


Hot and Bothered

by HandleAllOfThisAesthetic



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Alastor is Bad at Feelings (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust-Typical Sexual Content (Hazbin Hotel), Anxiety, Awkward Flirting, Bottom Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Crushes, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dating, Eventual Smut, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friendship/Love, Horny Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Intimacy, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Romance, Slow Burn, Soft Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Sub Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but only at first, radiodust - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:27:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21965665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HandleAllOfThisAesthetic/pseuds/HandleAllOfThisAesthetic
Summary: Ever since Alastor started "helping out" with the Hazbin Hotel, Angel can focus on little else. Every little thing Alastor does makes him hot and bothered and it becomes nearly impossible to keep his heart unwavering and his hands all to himself, while Alastor is trying to figure out what draws him to Angel and what he can do to stop it before it's too late.So Angel is doing his absolute best to make Alastor at least tolerate him before advancing to the status of friend. And then, who knows, maybe even more.
Relationships: Alastor/Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel)
Comments: 253
Kudos: 994





	1. Pina Colada

It was a relatively peaceful day at the “Happy” Hotel. Well, as “peaceful” as a day in hell could be at least. However, not the same could be said about Angel’s mind.

The white spider peeked around the corners of the long elaborate halls of the Hazbin Hotel, his recent rent-free residence, courtesy of the daughter of the ruler of hell himself. Quite the irony, really. He silently tip-toed around the empty rooms on the first floor, doing his absolute best not to make any noise as to not be noticed by anyone. Well, a certain someone in particular actually.

Ever since Alastor, one of the most powerful beings Hell has ever seen, as Vaggie oh so graciously put it, joined this little party of theirs, Angel couldn’t quite focus any longer. Focus on what? Not even he knew anymore.

After the radio demon charismatically introduced himself to the entire “staff” and offered his services, flashily displaying his power when Sir Pentious showed up, utterly destroying him in mere seconds with as little as a flick of the wrist, and unfortunately for Angel, promptly turning down his advances, the thoughts in Angel’s head seemed to have been taken over by a certain Radio Demon as of late.

It’s not like Angel hasn’t had any crushes before. Hell, he even thought some of his clients were cute in the past, but he quickly got over it. But Alastor was different. From the way he swayed his hips as he strutted down the halls, fluffy ears alert at all times and smirk never leaving his lips to the sound of his voice when having animated chats with Charlie about her laughable aspirations and the future of the Hotel.

Hell, even the static accompanying his voice was a complete turn on for Angel.

Unfortunately, the Radio Demon had clearly stated his distaste regarding any sexual involvement with the spider loud and clear. From the countless smacks across the head with his mic when Angel made _echem_ persuasive _echem_ advances to straight up walking out of the room whenever Angel made any raunchy or, as Alastor put it, “distasteful” jokes.

But that never stopped Angel Dust. No sir. He was determined to at least make Alastor tolerate him before advancing to the status of friend. And then, who knows, maybe even more.

However, as of right now, Angel couldn’t even control himself properly around the other. Whenever he would even catch a glimpse of the Radio Demon, he couldn’t help but stare at him before letting his mouth run loose, thus earning an eye-roll from the other, which would not help his case.

Angel groaned in frustration as he swiftly made his way through the halls.

It was so infuriating. It was nearly impossible for him to act normally around Alastor as it was, when there was nothing he wanted to do more than to grab the demon by that tiny waist of his, push him against a wall and have his way with him. If he ever wanted to see whether he could actually die a second time here in hell or not, this would for sure have to be his go-to method. But right now, he couldn’t risk fucking up their relationship even more, if he could even call it that to begin with. 

So, in conclusion, the best plan at the moment would be to completely avoid Alastor at all costs. Yes, that should work.

“Ugh, fucking finally.” The spider sighed as he finally reached the Hotel Bar without being spotted. ”Hey Husk, pour me a cold one, will ya’?”

The feline monster got up from behind the bar with a groan and a bottle of cheap booze in his hand.

“I don’t get paid enough for this shit.” he grumbled even though he grabbed a glass, starting to pour Angel’s usual drink of choice.

“Thanks darling.” Angel blew Husk a kiss before wrapping his fingers around the cold glass. He lifted it to take a sip, but stopped mid way, eyes wide as he heard static starting to flood the air. He panicked as he turned around just in time to see Alastor enter the lobby, making his way to him with a wide grin present on his face as usual.

“Angel!” the demon exclaimed ecstatically.”Just who I’ve been looking for!”

“Uh…Hey Al.” Angel stared at the demon in front of him, surprised by his words and his sudden change of attitude towards him. _Not a bad change though_. Angel thought to himself.

“Do you mind if I take a sit here?” the Radio Demon asked politely while pointing at the chair next to Angel’s at the bar.

“No, of course not! You can sit wherever you want!” Angel answered quickly, actually sounding excited at being in such close proximity with Alastor.

“Why thank you.” The demon exclaimed as he took the seat next to Angel.

Angel propped his elbow on the bar and rested his chin on his hand, trying to read the other’s expression and guess what could have brought this new attitude towards him. But those thoughts didn’t last long before his mind wandered off.

_I wish you would have sat in my lap instead._

Angel shook his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts before saying something he might actually end up regretting.

“So what can I do for you this lovely evening, Smiles?” Angel said on a light note.

 _Was that too much? God fucking damn it, I never know._ He internally punched himself.

However, Alastor didn’t seem to mind.

“Well, actually, I have a request of you that I do hope will be accepted.” Alastor said, turning to face Angel, crossing his legs and interlacing his fingers on his lap, as if on a business meeting.

“Oh?” Angel raised a brow at the proposition. _What could the great Radio Demon need from little ol’ me?_

“And what’s that?” Angel said with an amused grin.

“Well” Alastor began. “This morning I happened to run into Charlie and ended up having this lovely conversation regarding this oh so wonderful Hotel that you yourself reside at and for which we have so many plans.”

Angel just looked at the other with content, waiting for him to finish, but oh man, he could never get tired of listening to him speak. Angel took another sip of his drink before noticing that he was the only one drinking. _Shit, is this rude? I never know._

“Hey.” Angel said as he put his drink down.”Do you want something to drink?”

Alastor stared at Angel for a second and blinked once, considering his offer. Angel’s pulse started picking up as the seconds went by without an answer from the other. _Fuck. Is offering to get a drink for someone considered hitting on them? Fuck. It is. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

“Sure, I suppose one beverage wouldn’t hurt.” Alastor answered calmly.

_Oh_

Angel let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and relaxed a bit. He looked at Husk, who was now sleeping on the floor behind the bar, bottle of cheap booze still in his hand.

“Hey Husk! Could y-“Angel paused mid sentence as he saw Alastor lift his hand as to signal him to stop talking.

“No need.” The Radio Demon simply stated.

Angel stared in awe as a cocktail glass materialized in the other’s hand out of thin air. _A Pina Colada._ Angel noted mentally as he gazed at the white foamy beverage in his hand. 

He then shifted his gaze at the still sleeping cat on the floor, clutching the alcohol bottle close to him.

 _Aww, not so evil, are you, Smiles._ Angel thought fondly as he looked back at the demon who didn’t want to wake his old friend up just for a drink.

“Anyway” Alastor continues, swirling the contents of his cocktail around.”Me and Charlie came to the revelatory conclusion that there is something very important missing here at this Happy Hotel of ours.”

_Clients?_

“The clients!”

Angel actually snorted at the answer, not expecting to nail it on the first try. 

“And in order for our business to flourish and for Charlie’s helpless dream to come closer to completion, we are going to need clients!” Alastor exclaimed as if he had just discovered the wheel, not just stating the obvious.

Angel was now squinting at the other, trying to focus really hard on what he was saying and get what his point was. Maybe there was something he wasn’t understanding? But nonetheless, he let Alastor continue. 

“And what better attraction to draw in a most esteemed clientele than a mascot!” Alastor exclaimed, really proud of himself by the look on his face.

Angel blinked in surprise at the other’s statement. Before he could even speak, the vague confusion on his face turned into complete astonishment as a new thought made its way through his mind.

_Wait, is he gonna ask m-_

“And a mascot can be nothing short of charming, vibrant and high-spirited!”

Angel was subconsciously leaning in towards Alastor, not believing his ears. _D-Does he think I’m all of these things?!_ His pulse picked up again at the other’s unexpected confession.

“And I thought to myself, “Well I know just the right candidate for this position!” Alastor raised a finger to get his point across before letting out one of his radio filled-with-static laughs.

Angel’s mouth was hanging open by this point, clinging to the bar for dear life while sitting on the edge of his seat. 

“And that is the very reason why I am here right now, speaking to you!” he declared.

Angel swallowed hard in anticipation and he was sure his face had become red by that point without a doubt.

“There’s no doubt that the perfect choice for this part would be none other than…”

Angel almost fell off his chair because of the sheer excitement his body couldn’t contain anymore, giving out his answer before the other even finished his sentence.

“Ye-“

“Fat Nuggets!”

Angel blinked twice as he stared at the other, smile slowly fading away.

_Of fucking course_

“So I’m going to ask for your consent in this matter, as Charlie has requested of me, since the walking bundle of flesh does belong to you!” Alastor said, not quite understanding where the sudden disappointment on the other’s face came from.

Angel’s shoulders slouched as he switched his gaze from Alastor’s face to the ground.

_Of course it has to be the fucking pig…_

The white spider sighed as he straightened up, picking up his drink and taking a swing while actually considering the other’s request.

“Well, as long as nothing happens to him I suppose it would be fine.” Angel said looking back at the other who was waiting patiently. Alastor picked up his drink and brought it to his lips, eyes not leaving Angel’s.

“And you better not dress him up in any ugly outfi-“Angel’s words trailed off as he let his eyes roam on the other’s face.

Some of the drink Alastor was sipping on somehow made its way down his chin, white liquid dripping down the lower part of his face. Alastor seemed to have noticed his mishap as he hurriedly removed the glass from his lips, wiping the white mess on his face with the hem of his sleeve.

But it was too late. The whole scene had already been burned into Angel’s retinas. He couldn’t help the million dirty thoughts that passed through his mind in that very second. His mouth hung open as he watched Alastor hurry to wipe the liquid off his face. He knew in that very moment that this had not been intentional on the demon’s part, the red slowly creeping up on his cheeks giving it away.

But the worst part was that things had already begun to stir in Angel’s shorts, which were growing tighter by the second. The white spider began to actually worry that Alastar would end up noticing the problematic situation in his lap. And the flustered expression on the Radio Demon’s face was not helping it one bit.

_Fuck, this couldn’t get any worse._

And just as Alastor finished wiping his face and opened his mouth to apologize for the unsightly display, Angel’s drink slipped out of his fingers and landed in his lap, splashing its content all over his bottom half.

Angel froze on the spot, a string of profanities making its way through his mind for using that damn phrase. Alastor’s eyes trailed down to the mess on the other’s lap, but not quite registering the tent that was already forming there.

Angel watched with horror as Alastor summoned a handkerchief with his hand out of thin air just as he did with his drink.

_Oh no_

His horror grew tenfold as he saw Alastor bring the handkerchief down to his lap.

_OH NO_

As soon as Alastor’s hand made contact with his lap, missing his dick by only 2 inches, Angel abruptly stood up, almost toppling over the now empty glass on the floor, startling Alastor who withdrew his hand. 

“Oh Shoot! I better go clean this up! Haha!” Angel said with panic, voice cracking as he tried to sound as composed as he could, given the situation, which he obviously failed at. He couldn’t even look Alastor in the eye as he started making his way out of the lobby, pulling his jacket down to hide the now fully formed boner in his shorts more so than the actual stain.

“Angel, I apolo-“ Alastor started but got interrupted by the other’s erratic voice.

“It’s fine! Haha don’t worry about it!” The tension in his voice was palpable even though he tried his best not to sound as awkward as he felt. He forced his eyes up to look at Alastor who was wearing a concerned look on his face, looking just as uncomfortable as Angel felt, even his smile looking crooked.

“Um, do we still have your permission to use your pet as the Hotel mascot?” Alastor asked almost cautiously.

“Yeah! Sure! Just bring him back in one piece!” Angel waved at the other, leaving a confused Alastor at the bar, before finally leaving the lobby, dashing upstairs to his room to take care of the problem in his shorts. And then of the stain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Don't forget kudos and comments are much appreciated!
> 
> Also, if you have any ideas that would go along with the plot or vibe of this fic, please let me know!
> 
> Stay Tuned


	2. Room 666

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor tries to understand exactly what he feels about a certain white spider. Emphasis on 'tries'. Niffty helps out.

Alastor had never been the one to understand and sympathize with others very well and he was very much aware of that. But seeing Angel, the demon whose very first words to him had been nothing short of an obscene proposal he couldn’t even reproduce out loud, lose his composure over a simple act of clumsiness, nothing more than losing his grip on a glass? That turned out to be deeply confusing.

Alastor couldn’t help but wonder what could have triggered such an overwhelming reaction from the other before straight-up leaving the lobby out of what seemed to be sheer discomfort and embarrassment.

Alastor turned around in his chair, still sitting at the bar, eyes falling on the drink he had previously conjured with his hand. Color was quick to come back to his face as his smile grew awkward and heavier to hold, remembering the damn drink that made him appear so unsightly. Or perhaps he should blame his inexplicable inability to properly hold a glass in his hand at that very moment under the other’s gaze. Could it be because of the predatory look in Angel’s eyes and his relaxed yet confident body language that made Alastor feel uneasy? Haha! Of course not!

The Radio Demon’s reluctance towards demon closeness and intimacy was something he was well aware of and something he had made very clear, especially to Angel Dust, who despite his best efforts, continued to pursue Alastor. However, as of late, the white spider had begun to have a more civil attitude towards him and interact with him in more mannered ways. A change Alastor quickly noticed.

 _A good change_. He thought.

And in response, Alastor did his best to be more amicable and seem more approachable to Angel, even engaging in light conversation when the time was right. The Radio Demon had seen what Angel could accomplish in combat, cleverness and skill first hand and it was nothing short of impressive. So, since Alastor thought a good ally was never an opportunity to pass, he decided to keep him around.

And perhaps that personality of his wasn’t entirely… off-putting.

Alastor’s gaze fell to the sleeve of his red coat, noticing the white stain where he had wiped his lips off. A quick flash of the other’s eyes going wide and his words trailing off as Alastor felt the cold drink make its way down his chin made a shudder go down his spine.

 _How humiliating_. He shook his head.

The Radio Demon stood up and straightened his coat before making his way upstairs to the suite Charlie had insisted he reside at as a “token of her appreciation” for his benevolent offer to help with her dear “Happy” Hotel.

 _Well now. Time to clean this little mistake of mine up_. The demon thought, eyeing the stain on his sleeve.

By the time he reached his suite, his mind had already wandered off to the white spider again. _What a peculiar unpredictable creature you are._

Ever since Alastor had first encountered Angel Dust, he had been behaving in ways nothing short of vulgar and inappropriate. Nothing unexpected given his vocation and “hobbies”, presenting himself as available and willing to every single demon that seemed to even remotely catch his eye. But the peculiar thing was that instead of continuing to aim his usual obscene and vulgar behavior at Alastor, Angel had chosen to act in a way that would ‘accommodate’ the Radio Demon’s sexual distaste and preference for a courteous demeanor. 

Alastor hummed quietly as he thought over what it was exactly that was bothering him. He lifted his gaze as his eyes landed on the door of his suite.

Room 666. It used to be the residence of the ruler of hell, Lucifer himself, before he went on some “important but undisclosed business” as Charlie graciously put it. Alastor chuckled at Charlie’s trustfulness. Or perhaps she was just making a crude joke. _Entertaining nonetheless!_

Alastor pulled the knob to reveal his spacious abode, nothing out of the ordinary aside from the walls being covered in red velvet and one very old-fashioned radio placed on the nightstand. He took his coat off and placed it on the bed for further inspection.

 _A clean-up was due regardless of today’s small mishap! Wouldn’t want my favorite coat to look anything less than exquisite!_ The demon mused.

He made his way to the door, opened it and popped his head out.

“Niffty dear!” Alastor exclaimed loud enough for his voice to reach the entire hall. ”It seems like I’m in need of some assistance!”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Alastor lowered his gaze and was startled to see the little monster already happily standing at his feet, looking up at him with her restless eye.

“Hi Alastor! I just heard you calling! Sorry it took so long, I just finished cleaning up the other rooms down the hall! You wouldn’t believe what some people leave under their beds! And don’t even get me started with the bathrooms!” Niffty squeaked at her regular abnormally fast speed.

Alastor patiently waited for her to finish rambling, before inviting her inside.

“Woah! This place is spotless! I don’t think I can assist with much aside from dusting that old thing on your nightstand that you don’t let me touch!” she said pointing at the radio.

“Well, as a matter of fact, I do need to get something cleaned.” Alastor said, pointing at his coat. He took the dirtied sleeve in his hand to get his point across.

“No worries boss! The coat will look brand new once this diligent lady is finished with it!” Niffty exclaimed happily as she gave the other a proud military salute.

“I have no doubts about that. Thank you, dear.” The taller demon chuckled.

Niffty carefully folded the coat and took it in her arms, starting to make her way towards the door but stopping abruptly.

Alastor lifted one brow, curious about the other’s behavior.

“Umm…” Niffty tentatively turned around to look at Alastor, but lowering her gaze in what seemed to be shame.

This had peeked Alastor’s interest as he turned to face the smaller demon, an inquiring look on his face. “Is something wrong, dear?”

Niffty took one last look at Alastor before taking a deep breath, as if to gather some courage to let out what she had been meaning to say.

“I’m sorry but could you please please please just let me dust off that thing on your nightstand? It has been driving me crazy ever since it started gathering dust a couple of weeks ago. I clean everything up, but every time I’m done, that thing just sits up there mocking me!” Niffty cried out as she pointed at the radio on the nightstand as if it had just murdered her entire family.

Alastor was stunned into silence at the other’s confession. He took one last look at Niffty’s determined expression and let out a hearty laughter.

“Sure. If it meant so much to you, I would have allowed it the very first time you asked.” Alastor rose a gloved hand to wipe a tear off his face from his laughing fit just moments ago. ”Go right ahead!”

“Thank you sooo much!” Niffty cheered happily as she made her way to the relic on the nightstand, holding her dust wand in a threatening way.

Alastor sat down on the bed, amused by the little demon’s determination and glee to perform such a mundane task. He chuckled to himself as he wondered if things were really that simple in life too. Well, the after-life.

But he couldn’t concentrate for long as thoughts of the white spider made their way into his mind once more.

He crossed his legs and rested his chin on the palm of his hand as he looked somewhere in the distance, contemplating his doubts and frustrations.

Ever since Alastor had noticed this behavior change in Angel Dust, he somehow felt more comfortable around him, actually getting to know him. Under this hypersexual and debauched persona Angel had chosen to present to everyone, there was a witty, genuine and charming companion.

And Alastor couldn’t fathom why for the love of Lucifer he would even remotely care that the other made efforts to form a bond with him that wasn’t sex based.

He had seen Angel ‘in action’ before. Whenever some demon would catch his eye, he would pursue them in the raunchiest way possible, either getting what he wanted or, if those ‘requirements’ weren’t reciprocated, just moving on to his next interest without as much as the bat of an eye.

So then why was he making these efforts to get closer to Alastor and even befriend him, if his ultimate purpose was to only fulfill his carnal needs, something Alastor had stated countless times that he would not be taking part of?

Alastor’s usual toothy grin reverted to a smile that was hanging heavy on his face, eyes downcast as he tried to make sense of his thoughts.

Alastor let out a quiet chuckle as a particularly odd thought made its way into his mind. What if Angel acted this way towards him just to be… nice? Maybe Charlie’s babble about this hotel actually helping demons change for the better and having a chance at redemption wasn’t just a hopeless dream?

 _Very unlikely_. He shook his head, shaking the idea off.

And then again, what confused him most in the end was why he cared. Why did he care so much about the other’s company? Why did he also make an effort to bond with this wanton hooker? And why did he feel embarrassed when he slipped up in front of the other? Since when did he care about the opinion of anyone, much less the one of a promiscuous meaningless spider?

A flashback of how uncomfortable the spider looked when the Radio Demon offered to help, recoiling from his touch as if burned, made the demon bite his lip in frustration.

_He can’t even bare to be touched by me? Has his view of me morphed from sexual interest straight into pure repulsion? Why can there be no middle ground?_

_And why have I taken interest in such a meek insignificant insect?_

Alastor’s thoughts wandered all over the place as memories of Angel laughing, talking to him, hitting on him, apologizing, trying to touch him, recoiling from his touch as if burned that morning at the bar, smiling at him and grimacing while leaving the lobby all playing in his head as the static around him grew louder by the second.

Alastor was snapped from his trance like state when a pair of small hands made their way into his hair from behind. He quickly turned around to see Niffty standing on the bed, hands intertwined between red strands of hair. He gave her a questioning look as she continued to hum peacefully.

“No need to feel down, Alastor. Everything will be fine in the end, and you can take care of anything you put your mind to. You’re the big bad Radio Demon after all!” Niffty said with a smile, hands still combing through the other’s hair gently.

Alastor was speechless for a moment, before letting out a quiet chuckle.

_Am I that transparent?_

“Why thank you for the words of encouragement, dear.” The Radio Demon said, letting the other continue brushing through his hair.

“It’s perfectly fine to be under the weather sometimes!” she said, pulling his hair upwards and tying it up. ”But I find that a new hairstyle always brightens up my day!”

Alastor pressed a gloved hand over his nape, noticing the lack of strands falling over the back of his neck.

He summoned a hand mirror in his right hand and took a look at the other’s skillful work. She had indeed tied his hair up in a short and neat ponytail.

An action she did of her own volition, just to lift his spirits.

Alastor chuckled at the thought, with a heavy heart, reinforcing his theory that maybe, just maybe, Charlie’s little redemption idea did indeed have an impact on demons.

Alastor let the mirror vanish from his hands as he stood up and looked down at the other demon on his bed.

“How kind of you, Niffty dear! I’ll make sure to repay my debt one day.” He said showing one of his less forced smiles.

“No problem boss! I’ll be seeing you around!” she said as she jumped off the bed, taking the dirtied coat in her arms again and heading for the door, but not before giving Alastor a supportive thumbs-up and a smile.

Alastor chuckled as he gave her a thumbs up in return, not quite understanding the appeal in such a mundane hand sign, but reciprocating it nonetheless.

And with that, Alastor was left alone with his thoughts again, thoughts of the possibility of redemption, his own weaknesses and that damn white spider spilling in his mind again as he tried his best to push them away.

He opened his closet to choose a new coat for the day, but remembered what he had promised Charlie to help with for the day and decided against it. He gently placed his hand on the back of his neck, unused at the odd sensation of touching bare skin in that very spot.

And with that, he made his way towards the door to go help Charlie as promised. He thought about the possibility of running into Angel again and hated himself for looking forward to it.

He locked the door behind him, leaving a forgotten and very clean radio on his nightstand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking by! Also don't forget to leave a comment or maybe a suggestion or idea for further chapters.
> 
> More answers to come in the next chapters.
> 
> Stay Tuned~


	3. Kiss the cook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel cleans up that morning's mess. He recalls some pleasant memories of Alastor before lunch is ready. Wholesome surprises.

Angel’s eyes were glued to the washing machine in front of him, seemingly hypnotized by the endless rotating motion of it as he sat on the floor in front of it. He sighed as he placed his chin on the palm of his hands, eyes not leaving the vortex of laundry unfolding behind the glass as he waited for his shorts to go back to their original, stainless appearance.

His thoughts went back to the fiasco that unfolded mere hours ago, that very morning. Him dropping that damn drink on himself like a complete moron.

 _With 6 arms you’d think I’d manage to at least hold a fucking glass in my hand._ He groaned at the memory.

But it wasn’t all his fault, he told himself. How could he even concentrate on anything, including controlling his own limbs, with Alastor looking like that in front of him? Angel swallowed hard as he recalled the flustered look on the Radio Demon’s face as that damn drink made its way down his chin.

 _It had to be a fucking Pina Colada too_. He mused, thinking about the white drink the demon had chosen to summon, its color and consistency resembling something very different and much dirtier in Angel’s mind. 

He recalled the crooked smile that replaced Alastor’s regular obnoxiously confident one as he hurried to wipe the mess on his chin. The white spider couldn’t stop that image from replaying over and over in his mind. And the slight shade of pink that had started creeping up on the Radio Demon’s cheeks as he rubbed at the mess on his chin while avoiding Angel’s gaze out of what looked like pure embarrassment turned out to be too much for the white spider.

He wished he could have relished in that sight forever. But the spider let out a depressed laugh.

There had been a time when Angel would have wanted nothing more than to see Alastor in that very state. Flustered, unsuspecting and with white goo dripping down his face.

But now that he had witnessed such an otherworldly, enticing sight, something he had been craving for a while before setting on just becoming the other’s friend, made things so much worse now.

It was bad enough that he could barely control his urges around Alastor as it was, but actually seeing him in such compromising circumstances made the fur on his body stand on its end with need. The need to wrap all 3 pairs of arms around him, press their bodies flush against each other and taste that stupid cocktail straight out of his mouth.

Angel swallowed hard as he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of sounds the Radio Demon would have made if he would have just pushed him against the bar and mashed their mouths together. How would the static surrounding the demon feel on his lips? And how would he have reacted if the spider would have pushed his knee between his legs and just…

Angel was snapped out of his trance like state when the washing machine let out a loud **_ting_** _,_ letting him know that his shorts have been cleaned of the misfortune that was that morning’s fiasco.

The white spider opened the door and took his shorts out, relieved to see the lack of stains on them. He placed them in the drier before walking out of the room, heading for his room, ready to hide beneath his blankets and not have to face anyone else that day.

But of course Satan had other plans for him as an energetic Niffty appeared out of thin air in front of him.

“Charlie told me to come tell you that lunch is being made and that you should come downstairs in 10 minutes to join in!” The little demon squeaked at her abnormally fast speed.

“Yeah, thanks. I’ll be there in a minute.” The spider said plainly, hand on his hip.

“Woah, how many hands do you have, miss?” Niffty asked, staring at the 2 pairs of hands Angel had exposed.

Angel lifted a brow at the other’s curiosity, however, not bothered by it or by the fact that she had just called him ‘miss’. Angel smirked as he brought out his third pair of arms, showing them off in a flashy way.

“Three pairs, Six arms and thirty fingers, toots!” he said, wiggling his fingers to prove his point.

“Wow! That is amazing!” She said in awe.”Maybe you could use some of them to clean your room from time to time!”

Angel’s brow twitched at the other demon who had already started making her way down the hall, humming quietly to herself, seemingly unaware of the murderous glare that was being directed her way.

He sighed as he walked downstairs towards the dining area. He made his way towards the big door and pushed it open only to find the saloon completely empty. He looked around for a moment before he shrugged and took a seat at one of the large tables sprawled across the room, lazily lifting his feet and resting them on the white tablecloth.

His thoughts wandered off again as his eyes fell on the broken chandelier, barely still hanging from the ceiling .

He wondered if all of his hard work, trying to control his natural instinct to pursue anyone sexually and refraining from making any ‘inappropriate’ jokes around Alastor, had gone down the drain just because of that little awkward moment they had shared that very morning.

Angel couldn’t stop the grimace on his face from twisting his features further as he thought about the possibility of the Radio Demon not even wanting to see him anymore and avoiding him altogether.

He had noticed the other’s obvious annoyance and indignation whenever Angel was present in the very beginning, when they first met. But then, he couldn’t help but also noticed how Alastor’s behavior and posture around him seemed to have grown more comfortable and relaxed as of late. He’d hate to think that this was only his imagination.

After all, even Angel, to his dismay, couldn’t help but fall for the Radio Demon’s charms.

Aside from his very flashy and charismatic entrance in their lives, seemingly incomprehensible amount of power displayed almost constantly and his put-together, polished persona, Angel couldn’t help but also notice the genuine bits that Alastor sometimes unknowingly let show.

And he loved every second of them.

Like when he would see him listen to Husk reminisce about his time alive, for once not completely grumpy and moody, getting Alastor to show one of his rare genuine smiles and actually enjoy the conversation.

Or when Charlie would ask him about his Radio show, drawing out a very detailed and animated description of why he loved what he was doing so much.

Or how he sometimes caught Alastor talking to his microphone when he thought he was alone and feeling especially dejected, whispering melancholic phrases such as ”What am I going to do now?” and “Such is the after-life.”, as if looking for words of encouragement within himself.

Or when he would even have a lighthearted conversation with Angel, patiently listening to him recall a particularly exciting fight or simply tell him about his day.

The Radio Demon’s ears would stand up more so than usual, alert, a sign that he was actually paying attention to what Angel was saying. Angel couldn’t help but notice the tufts at the end of the other’s ears standing out more than usual whenever he did this. And that combined with his tilted head and fascinated expression gave him an inexplicably and undeniably adorable and genuine aura.

Angel chuckled out loud as more pleasant memories involving the Radio Demon came to mind.

Like the two of them just sitting on the couch together in comfortable silence, Alastor reading a book and Angel holding one of his magazines on his lap, sneaking peeks at the other’s content expression as he glazed through the pages, humming quietly.

Or the time Alastor offered to let him try on some of his coats in hopes that he might enjoy dressing in a more sophisticated and elegant manner, something Angel instantly accepted, trying on one of his coats and relishing in the soft fabric and the sweet and bloody scent Alastor exuded.

Or the moments when Angel looked up some actually funny dad jokes, telling them to Alastor at the most random of times, never failing to get a hearty laugh out of the other and an amused ‘Angel, you are such a character!’

Angel laughed.

In conclusion, he was pretty much fucked.

Angel let his eyes wander around the large saloon as he wondered when lunch would actually be ready.

 _10 Minutes my ass._ Angel though as he stood up.

A sudden loud metallic noise startled the white spider as he looked around. It had come from the kitchen. He figured.

Angel raised a brow at the odd situation. No one around and weird sounds coming from the kitchen. Great.

_What the fuck…_

He skeptically started making his way towards the Hotel kitchen, noticing the faint sound of chatter and music coming from there.

He pushed the door open, slowly peeking in.

♫ _Your clothes may be Beau Brummelly_ _♫_ _  
__♫_ _They stand out a mile_ _♫_

Charlie’s and Alastor’s voices were filling the room as they sang along to an old song playing on the radio without a care in the world.

Vaggie was sitting at the table behind the counter, lovingly gazing at her girlfriend enjoying herself while cooking. Niffty was busying herself with wiping the counter as she hummed along. Even Husk was there, lazily looking over the pile of dishes in the sink, most likely dreading the thought that he will most likely have to clean that up.

Charlie had just taken a large tray out of the oven, revealing the most mouth-watering dish Angel had ever seen as Alastor was mixing vegetables in a bowl while they both kept on singing to the merry tune playing in the background.

 _♪_ _You're never fully dressed_ _♪_ _  
__♪_ _Without a smile!_ _♪_

Angel’s jaw dropped at the sight in front of him. He couldn’t describe it as anything less than pure and wholesome.

Was he still in hell? He couldn’t tell.

He cautiously made his way in the kitchen, almost fearing he would wake up from one of those cliché dreams.

Alastor was the first one to notice him.

“Oh, Angel! So nice of you to join us!” He said, flashing him one of his genuine smiles.

Angel chocked on his own spit when his eyes landed on him.

He wasn’t wearing his usual red coat, instead just going for a white button up shirt with its sleeves rolled up, the first button of his shirt left undone, exposing just a modest amount of collarbone. 

Angel’s eyes trailed off to his exposed nape, taking in the beautiful curve of the exposed skin there, something he had never had the pleasure of seeing, but so many times fantasized about kissing.

Angel could literally feel his mouth watering. And this time it was not because of the meal they were preparing.

And the bastard was wearing a pink apron with the phrase ‘Kiss the cook’ written on it.

_Oh the fucking irony._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned out to be way more wholesome than planned. And I don't mind one bit. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> The song they're singing to in the kitchen is 'You're never fully dressed without a smile' by Charles Strouse, for ayone interested. 
> 
> Next chapter will be up soon. With more tensions running high and questions being answered.
> 
> Stay tuned~


	4. With Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wholesome cooking show continues. Involuntary confessions lead to more nerve-racking situations. Local deer man questions existence while no. 1 Porn Star tries his best.

When Alastor had agreed to help Charlie prepare his famous Jambalaya for lunch, he wasn’t expecting to actually enjoy it so much.

She suggested putting on some music before beginning, insisting that ‘food tastes best when it’s made with love’. And even though the wording made Alastor’s stomach turn, he was happy to oblige. He even accepted the odious apron Charlie had offered him, deciding that wearing that atrocious piece of cloth was better than soiling his clothes, much like his favorite red coat.

And somehow they ended up joined by almost the entire staff of the hotel and singing along to one of his favorite tunes from his not so illustrious life on earth.

Alastor couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of it all.

Here they were in Hell, having the time of their after-life. Take that, God.

And then came in Angel Dust, eyes wide as saucers and mouth agape.

Alastor put down the bowl, wiping his hands on the horrendous piece of fabric that was his apron before friendlily greeting the white spider, trying to push down the urge to crawl into a corner as he recalled the events of that morning.

“Uhh…Hi?” Angel let the words slip out of his mouth as his eyes continued to scan the surroundings with suspicion and astonishment.

“Oh! Angel! You finally decided to show up!” Charlie said with excitement as she removed her oven mittens.”Niffty told you to come help 20 minutes ago! What took you so long?”

“Well she told me to come down for lunch so I just…” Angel scratched the back of his head, trying not to stare at Alastor as the princess lightly scolded him.

“Assumed we would just prepare lunch for you?” Charlie continued with an amused expression. “Haha, I don’t think so!”

Charlie went back to preparing the food on the counter, leaving a stunned Angel behind.

_Is it just me, or is Al starting to rub off on the Princess?_

The white spider let out a small chuckle at the realization, actually entertained by her little outburst of sass.

“Al was kind enough to help us prepare his famous Jambalaya! We haven’t had it ever since he first joined us here at the hotel!” Charlie pointed out as she poured the contents of the tray into the bowl Alastor was mixing. “And we’ve all been dying to try it again!”

“Well, I’m flattered to hear that, dear.” Alastor chuckled.

Angel couldn’t help but smile at the exchange, taking a sit at the table behind them.

Alastor continued softly humming along the melody of the song as he finished mixing the contents of the bowl. He could feel Angel’s gaze on him as he did his best to maintain his composure and finish preparing the meal.

Angel couldn’t help but stare at the Radio Demon as he skillfully prepared the dish. Cooking was such a foreign concept to Angel that he couldn’t even begin to comprehend what Alastor was doing.

 _How the fuck is he good at everything_? He thought with admiration and a bit of jealousy.

Alastor took a spoonful of meat and vegetables and held it in front of Charlie. She smiled as she took a sniff, relishing in the delicious smell that even Angel, who was sitting 5 feet away could sense. She opened her mouth, flashing her fangs before devouring the contents of the spoon in one bite.

“Mhmm~” Her eyes drifted shut as she chewed with content, before swallowing. “It’s even better than I remember!”

Alastor chuckled at the compliment. “Oh, Is that so?”

“And I think I know why!” the princess proudly exclaimed.

Alastor couldn’t help but raise a brow in amusement.

“Why please do tell.”

“This time you cooked it with love!”

Angel’s eyes went wide at her unexpected revelation, eyes shifting to Alastor as he waited for his reaction.

Alastor’s eyes went wide as his posture stiffened. He could hear Husk snort in amusement behind him while Niffty let out a long ’aww’. For some reason, Alastor feared turning around and seeing Angel’s reaction so he just shook his head and placed the empty spoon in the sink.

“I doubt that is the case, dear. But sticking to the recipe seems to do the trick!” Alastor brushed it off.

“Sure, whatever you say, Al!” Charlie said, completely disregarding the other’s answer.

Alastor sighed as he saw no point in trying to change Charlie’s mind.

“Let’s go set up the table in the dining room!” Charlie said as she took a handful of silverware and handed it to Husk and Vaggie. ”Everyone should help out!” she continued, winking at Angel who groaned at the extra chore.

Vaggie and Husk left the kitchen with the silverware, heading for the dinner table, Niffty left with as many tissues as she could carry, which turned out to be not so many given her tiny stature and Charlie did her best to balance all the plates in her hands through the door.

Alastor chuckled at the sight, removing that dreadful apron from his person and placing it on the counter. He turned around only to find Angel still sitting at the table behind him, looking at him.

Angel lifted his chin from the palm of his hand as he stood up, eyes never leaving the Radio Demon. He joined him at the counter as he gazed over the contents of the bowl, taking in the appetizing scent.

“This smells amazing. An’ it looks really good too. You’re quite the chef, ain’t ya, Smiles?” Angel said as he switched his gaze from the contents of the bowl to Alastor’s face.

Alastor couldn’t help but feel a pang of pride in his chest at the other’s compliment, finding it oddly difficult to hold his gaze for some reason.

“Why thank you. But the taste is the most important attribute of any meal, don’t you agree?” Alastor challenged with amusement.

“Yeah, I know.” Angel internally punched himself in the face. “Sucks that I couldn’t try it the first time you made it.”

“Did you really think that I had poisoned it?”Alastor said with a laugh, recalling the other’s skepticism regarding the Radio Demon’s intention with that very meal.

“Hey! Can you blame me?” Angel chuckled as he too recalled the events. “By the looks you were giving me I thought that you must’ve put somethin’ in it.”

“Well I wouldn’t have given you those looks if you had kept your hands to yourself.” Alastor said smirking at the other, tilting his head as he playfully crossed his arms.

“Glad to see that changed.” He unconsciously added.

Angel’s eyes shot up to meet Alastor’s and he was surprised to be met with the same shocked expression, as if the Radio Demon had not meant to let the last phrase out.

 _So all of my efforts did not go unnoticed?_ Angel thought with relief and excitement _._

Alastor couldn’t even begin to think of any words to say in order to justify or even deny what he had just said. And what’s worse was that he could already start feeling blood rush to his face, his soon to be pathetic and transparent expression giving him away before he could even fathom how to handle this situation.

 _How on earth do I…_ The demon thought overwhelmed _._

As if sensing his internal anguish, Angel spoke up with a reassuring smile.

“And I’m glad I finally get to taste your cooking, Smiles.” He said as he leaned on the counter, nothing but kindness and honesty in his eyes.

Alastor could not for the life of him recall the last time he had felt such a puzzling concoction of emotions while looking someone in the eyes.

This demon in front of him that just months ago could manage nothing more than to give him a headache with his mere presence, made him weak in the knees as he almost ‘lovingly’ gazed at him, saying words of reassurance.

Alastor subconsciously clenched his fists.

**_How dare you…_ **

In all his decades here in Hell, he had not once come across someone who would go to such lengths just to get to know him and… befriend him?

To treat him as an equal and respect him enough to refrain from trying to benefit off of him? To not seek his company just for the ‘prestige’ of being acquainted with the infamous Radio Demon? To not pursue him just for the sake of sexual gratification?

Alastor simply couldn’t understand what the demon standing in front of him was after. He surely had to have a hidden motive, but that look in his eyes told him otherwise.

**_…make me feel like this?_ **

Angel tried to seem as relaxed and unaffected as possible, but seeing the strained smile on the other’s face as thousands of thoughts seemed to pass through his mind all at once made the white spider a little nervous.

He could swear the static that had almost fully engulfed the kitchen wasn’t due to the small radio on the table.

Alastor couldn’t understand how on Earth he ended up literally involuntarily showing the other that not only did he notice his change in behavior for the better, but also that he appreciated it, everything in a single sentence.

The Radio Demon suddenly decided that rather than embarrassing himself further, he should just pretend that nothing had happened.

 _Yes, that should definitely work._ He thought to himself.

He cleared his throat before speaking.

“I do hope it rises to your expectations.” He said, gluing his eyes to the floor, finding it impossible to look at Angel at that very moment.

“No doubts about that.”Angel answered with a chuckle, trying to lighten up the mood.

And as if on cue, Charlie burst through the door of the kitchen.

“C’mon you guys! The food is going to get cold!” she said, pointing at the bowl of food on the counter.”Also, we need more plates!”

And with that she was out the door again, leaving two startled demons behind her.

“Well, we better get going.” Angel was the first to react as he straightened up and grabbed a plate.”Wouldn’t want to make the princess lose her shit.”

And with that, Alastor suddenly recalled that morning’s fiasco and what he had planned in order to clarify any misunderstandings. And as much as he hated himself for it, to make sure that there would be no strain put on this newly reformed bond the two had developed.

Angel gave Alastor a playful smile before turning towards the door, but stopped dead in his tracks when he felt a hesitant hand gently wrapping around his forearm, stopping him. He turned around to look at the other with a questioning look.

“Could you meet me here after lunch?” Alastor said softly, just above a whisper, looking Angel straight in the eyes.

Angel could feel the blood freeze in his veins at the other’s words. A thousand thoughts made their way through the spider’s mind.

 _Is he upset? Did I do something wrong? Fuck. I fucked up, didn’t I? I should have just kept my mouth shut._ Angel couldn’t help but let his negative thoughts take over. And aside from his strained smile, the serious expression on Alastor’s face wasn’t helping one bit.

However, he forced himself to give an answer nonetheless.

“Uhh…Sure.” He blurted out.

Alastor nodded his head in acknowledgement as he took the food bowl in his hands, before brushing by the other on his way out of the kitchen, leaving a stupefied and puzzled Angel Dust behind, dinner plate in hand.

Angel motionlessly stared at the door for what felt like years, trying to grasp what had just happened.

His eyes fell on the plate in his hand before pressing it against his forehead, hiding his face out of frustration and confusion.

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned out pretty nice, considering they are both absolute messes. Also, soft Alastor is best Alastor, you can't change my mind.
> 
> Thank you so much for sticking by. All of your comments really do put a smile on my face and I can't express how happy I am to see how many people are enjoying this thing I'm working on. Feel free to leave kudos and comments. I'd like to hear what you think!
> 
> More to come soon~


	5. Spiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anxieties at lunch. Questions are being answered. Wholesome apologies and even more confusing feelings left for local deer man to uncover.

To say that lunch started off being an absolute nightmare would be a huge understatement. Well, at least in Angel’s case.

After Alastor had dropped that bomb on him, _I’m glad that changed_ , finally confirming that his efforts were being not only noticed, but also appreciated by him, everything went crashing down in an instant when he asked to talk to Angel _privately_ in the kitchen after lunch was over.

After finally taking a couple of deep breaths and gathering the courage to make his way to the dining room, he was surprised to say the least to find everyone enjoying themselves and idly chatting. And to see Alastor behaving like nothing had even happened.

Angel sat down across from Alastor, not failing to notice how his stomach was tied into a knot or how he could already feel that morning’s alcohol start coming up just from the sheer worry and uneasiness that seemed to have taken over his body.

He did his best trying to calm down and actually focus on the meal in front of him. It looked absolutely delicious. The scent alone made his mouth water. He looked down at his plate and grabbed a fork, but it was all in vain. He could already feel the bile rise inside him.

Angel actually felt like crying out of frustration and self-pity. Here he was, with Al’s famous recipe for Jambalaya appetizingly displayed right in front of him, and all he felt was the uncontrollable urge to throw up out of pure fear and anticipation regarding what problem Al might have with him.

He let out a sad chuckle as he tightened his grip on the fork, wishing nothing more than to shove it in his eye and leave the room on a stretcher and then be taken away in an ambulance, not having to hear what Alastor had to say to him. Did ambulances even exist in hell? Actually, Angel didn’t care. Just bleeding to death sounded like a much better alternative anyway. 

_Fuck me…_

Angel contemplated what excuse he could use to get the fuck out of there right then and there, but when he raised his head, he was met with Alastor’s concerned gaze directed right at him. The Radio Demon slightly tilted his head as if to ask what was wrong.

Angel swallowed hard before showing half a smile to the other and shaking his head. For some reason, seeing Alastor’s soft, almost carrying expression made him feel just a little bit better, somehow reassuring him that the eventual talk they were going to have in kitchen didn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.

Angel loosened his grip around the fork and instead used it to pick a particularly juicy piece of meat to bite into.

Lunch then went on relatively smoothly. Charlie explaining what future plans she had for the hotel through mouth-fulls while her girlfriend was patiently listening to her, mostly picking at the meal in front of her. Niffty was taking her time, placing a napkin on her lap and cutting everything into small pieces before slowly chewing every bite, insisting that this was the only way to properly enjoy a meal. Husk could be seen taking a swing of Alcohol between every bite, even though anyone could tell that he too was enjoying the food.

And Alastor was being uncharacteristically quiet, listening to the others talk with an amused smile on his face and taking small bites of his own meal, instead of enthusiastically taking over the conversation like he would usually do.

Angel tilted his head at the other’s unusual behavior, trying to figure him out.

_Could he be thinking about something else too?_

Angel couldn’t help but wonder if the Radio Demon somehow also worried about what was going to go down in the kitchen. He let out a relieved sigh as he felt glad not to be the only one so easily distracted by the other’s involvement.

And just like that, chatter died down, plates were emptied and lunch was over.

Everyone helped out with cleaning the table and taking the dished back to the kitchen. And it was hard not to, especially when Charlie’s fingers were viciously wrapped around Angel’s ear, dragging him to the kitchen.

Much to his disdain, Angel settled on lazily doing the dishes. Almost cracking a couple of plates out of the sheer nervousness flowing through his veins.

“That should be everything!” Charlie declared proudly as she made her way out of the kitchen.”Thank you for helping out, Angel! Remember, diligence is a redeeming quality!”

Angel groaned as the other finally left, leaving him alone in the kitchen. Alone with 2 piles of dirty dishes.

_I swear, she spouts that bullshit jus’ to get out of doing anything her own damn self._

Angel’s annoyance slowly faded as he eventually ended up admitting that washing the dishes at least gave him something else to focus on until…

And just as he put down the last plate, proudly looking over the now clean piles of dishes, Alastor made his way in the kitchen.

They both looked at each other for a couple of seconds, Alastor looking almost as if he wasn’t expecting to actually see him there.

Angel was the first to break the silence as he cleared this throat.

“Uhh…The food was great.” He immediately internally punched himself in the face for ending up sounding so unconvincing. “For real. Can’t remember the last I ate something so good.”

“Oh, I’m glad it was to your liking.” Alastor answered, clearly avoiding his gaze.

“So uh…You wanted to talk?” Angel asked hesitantly.

“Yes, I did.” Alastor answered promptly, still not looking at him.

 _Must be pretty bad if he can’t even look at me._ Angel thought worryingly.

“It is regarding this morning’s events.” Alastor said, turning to face the counter instead of Angel.

Angel swallowed hard.

For the time being, he decided that playing dumb would be the best option.

“Look, if you still need Fat Nuggets, he’s all you-“

“Not about that.” He said plainly.

_Fuck, I knew it._

Angel was holding his breath by this point, not wanting to bring up the awkward disaster that was that morning’s fiasco.

_Does he think I dropped that drink on myself intentionally to have him touch me or something? Or maybe that I ran out of there to get away from him? Oh God, did he see my bone-_

Angel was snapped out of his thoughts when Alastor suddenly turned around, looking him straight in the eyes, lacing his fingers together in front of him as if he were actually nervous himself.

He took a deep breath before speaking.

“I just wanted to clarify that it had not been my intention to create such an uncomfortable ambience this morning, during our chat.” He said, switching his gaze between Angel’s eyes and the floor. “And I do apologize for my _echem_ clumsiness _echem_ that made you witness such a… unsightly display.” He continued, vaguely waving one hand in the air while grimacing.

Angel struggled to take in what he was hearing, staring down at the other demon.

_Is…Is he fucking apologizing?_

Alastor cleared his throat before speaking again.

“I do apologize if I had made you feel uncomfortable. That had not been my intention. But, given your reaction, I couldn’t help but believe that that might have been the case.”

Angel quickly recalled how he ended up recoiling from the other’s touch when he tried to help and then making a run for it, remembering Alastor’s confused expression when he got out of there.

Only then did he realize how his reaction might have looked in the other’s eyes.

“No! That wasn’t it! I just…” Angel’s words trailed off as his brain seemingly ceased to function for a second.

_How the fuck do I tell him I had to get outta there cuz’ I popped a boner?_

“Anyway.” Alastor continued, making his way towards the oven as he spoke. He turned to Angel once more, his smile slightly dimming, giving him a more serious feeling.

“I would hate to see this newly-formed bond we have wither away and be lost all because of a childish misunderstanding.“ He continued as he put on a pair of oven mittens and opened the oven. ”So, I do hope that you may take into consideration the possibility of reconciliation...”

Angel watched him take a tray from the oven and place it on the counter.

“And accept my offering.”

Angel’s jaw dropped at the sight. The tray was filled with differently sized slightly burned pink gingerbread cookies. He leaned in closer, not believing his eyes.

_A-Are those fucking spiders?!_

He turned his head to look at Alastor who was sheepishly switching his gaze between the tray and Angel’s face.

Angel looked over the cookies sprawled across the tray. They were burned in some places, but mostly white and decorated with pink frosting meant to resemble the eyes and the smiles of the spiders. They even had little pink stripped jackets much like the real thing.

For the first time in a long time, Angel was at a complete loss of words.

There stood the Radio Demon, the violent monster of chaos, a wicked spirit of mystery and one of the most powerful beings Hell has ever seen, mittens still on his hands while presenting Angel with a home-made tray of…cookies.

Cookies that were obviously meant to resemble him.

Cookies that he had prepared for Angel almost as a peace offering.

Angel felt the need to clutch at his chest, wrapping an arm around the counter as to not topple over.

He looked at Alastor in awe, trying his best to say something, but still not getting his brain to blurt out a single coherent thought as the other was still waiting for a reaction out of him.

“Um.” The Radio Demon began on an almost hesitant tone.”I am aware that they are not in perfect condition, since I am by no means a patissier an-“

“They’re perfect.” Angel interrupted him.

Alastor raised his head to look at Angel who was practically beaming. The white spider took a cookie between his fingers as he looked it over with amusement, before biting its head off.

“An’ they thashte pwetty ghod too.” He continued with a mouthful of gingerbread.

Alastor sighed in what could only be described as relief. Angel swallowed the rest of the cookie in his hand and licked his fingers.

“I mean I know I taste good, but damn.” He said with a chuckle.

Alastor gave an unimpressed laugh, choosing to ignore the lewd implications of the joke.

“I’m glad you like it.” Alastor continued with content.

“Hey Al.” Angel suddenly said. “You don’t need to apologize for this morning. It just turned out we both suck at holding things in our hands.” He continued, smiling reassuringly at the other.

Alastor raised his eyebrows in surprise at the other’s words, before bursting out laughing.

Angel considered himself lucky that Alastor didn’t notice the way he was looking at him and taking in his laughter, keeping those memories for himself to relish in later.

“I suppose you are right.” The Radio Demon said, wiping a tear from his eye.

“But for real now, you don’t have to worry about stuff like that, Al. You think just spilling a drink on myself is gonna be enough to fuck this thing we got going on? Nah, I don’t think so.” Angel grinned. “It’s gonna take more than that to get rid of me, sugar.”

Angel actually laughed at the other’s confession.

“I don’t doubt that one bit.”

Angel took a glass jar and placed all of the spider cookies inside, screwing the lid shut.

“I’m really glad I got to hang out with you and taste your cooking today. I guess the real deal did live up to its legendary expectations.” Angel said, emphasizing his point by contently rubbing his full belly.

“Were you expecting any less?” Alastor challenged.

“Nah, you got me there.” Angel chuckled as he made his way towards the door with the jar of cookies in his hands.”I’ll see you around, Smiles!” He said with a wave, before leaving the room.

Alastor waved back, before sighing in relief once he was alone.

 _Thank Goodness that went smoothly_.

He took out his mittens and held them in his hands, relieved that the whole ordeal had finally been dealt with and that Angel wasn’t actually put off by his presence. He looked over at the now empty tray on the counter, recalling a conversation he had had with Charlie before they started cooking lunch.

_‘Charlie, may I ask you a rather personal question?’_

_‘Sure, Al, go ahead!’_

_‘How do you deal with the issue of preventing the rupture of a bond between two people?’_

_‘You mean how do I make up with a friend?’_

_‘Um, yes, I suppose.’_

_‘Aww, do you have a friend you want to make it up to, Al?’_

_‘That is completely unrelated, dear. Could you answer the question?’_

_‘Hmm. I think the fastest way to someone’s heart is through their stomach! I can count on both hands all the times I got Vaggie to talk to me again after some pretty nasty fights just by making her some of her favorite desserts! Sometimes, it is THAT simple!’_

Alastor chuckled at the memory, not expecting something so childish and trivial to actually give him the desired results.

_I guess it is that simple sometimes, huh?_

However, he was left with a bitter taste as he thought about the reasons behind his actions as he failed to actually find an answer. After he outed himself before lunch, admitting to Angel that he cared about their newly-formed amity, he figured he might as well just go full-out and state his thought to the other clearly. Well, at least the thoughts he himself could understand. And to give Charlie’s idea a chance.

He couldn’t quite understand what exactly it was that pushed him to such lengths for Angel Dust. Even if ‘such lengths’ meant something as simple and mundane as cooking some gingerbread for the other. Oh, what his listeners and ‘fellow’ Overlords would give to see him in such compromising positions.

But even so, for Satan knows what reason, Alastor had grown to value the bond he had formed with Angel. He would even go as far as to admit that he enjoyed the other’s company when he wasn’t behaving like a downright vulgar idiot.

Maybe it was this ‘Happy’ Hotel that was latching its claws into him and involuntarily changing him into a better person.

Alastor almost gagged, shuddering at the thought.

Even so, a small part of him couldn’t help but find comfort in the fact that he had properly dealt with this situation and cleared the tension between him and Angel. He recalled a vivid image of Angel Dust almost chocking on his food at the table after Alastor had voiced his desire to speak to him privately. He felt an odd sense of relief as he recalled the absolute glee of the other when he laid eyes on the cookies Alastor had made. Even though they were burned to a crisp underneath all that pink glaze.

Alastor felt a genuine smile creep up on his face from beneath his usual for-show one as flashes of Angel smiling at him while happily chewing on one of the cookies made their way through his mind.

His breath hitched as he suddenly realized what he was smiling about.

Panic started sweeping through him as he placed a hand on his forehead, waiting for his brain to make sense of what he had felt inside just moments ago.

_What am I even…_

His eyes landed on the mittens still in his hand as he froze when he felt two pairs of arms wrap gently around him from behind. His posture stiffened as he looked past his shoulder only to see a smiling Angel looking back at him.

“I forgot to say thanks for dessert.” Angel said with a hint of gratitude in his voice. “So thanks!”

And with that, the arms loosely wrapped around him from behind were gone, Angel leaving the kitchen once more with a wave of his hand and a smile.

Alastor let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, still feeling the other’s warm arms wrapped around him and for once not dreading the touch of another person. He stared at the kitchen door, almost expecting Angel to burst right back in and joke about it. But he never did.

Alastor suddenly felt something warm erupting from his chest for the first time since he had ended up in Hell, soft tremors filling his torso as he tried to focus on his breath, every ounce of static completely vanishing for a moment.

And in that moment, everything he had felt up until that moment because of Angel made sense.

He brought a hand to his chest and dug his fingers in the soft fabric of his shirt.

He felt like he had a heart again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was longer than usual. Y'all can thank my sore thumbs for it.
> 
> This turned out to be another wholesome chapter and I'll never apologize for it. 
> 
> Thank you for sticking by and reading this mess. And don't worry, it's not over. I still got plenty planned for the next chapters. If you have any personal headcanons involving soft Alastor or ideas you might want to share, please feel free to do so!
> 
> Stay tuned~


	6. Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel looks back and has some regrets, but not really. A mysterious stranger is coming after the pig. Invitations with some downsides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, children. Dad's back with the milk.

Not even a whole week had passed since the Spider-Cookie Event, as Angel liked to lovingly refer to it as nowadays, and he still found himself laying on his bed, surrounded by nothing more than his plush pillows and his dear Fat Nugget, reminiscing about how warm Al’s lithe body had been when, in an unexpectedly sudden outburst of confidence and determination, Angel dared to wrap his arms around the other from behind. And even more unexpected was the fact that he had not been instantly decapitated afterwards.

Angel sighed in relief at the thought.

The second he had exited the kitchen for the second time, after receiving the spider cookies Alastor oh-so-graciously baked him, he gently placed the palms of all four of his hands on the nearest wall, took a deep breath and smashed his head on it with as much force as he could muster. A string of curses left his lips in whisper-screams at his own previous actions. God, how he hated himself for not being able to keep his hands to himself, which is exactly what had gotten them into this mess in the first place.

His brain keeps telling him to just punch himself in the face because of his own idiocy.

_Exactly how chummy do I think I can get with Al?! He just apologized to me when it was clear he had no actual fault in this whole mess I created!_

Angel groaned and let out a loud sigh before taking a plush pillow and pressing it on his face, attempting to just suffocate himself and hoping, just hoping, that the devil would just have mercy on him for once and let it all end there.

_And just after Al accidentally confesses that he actually enjoys my presence when I don’t act like a vulgar moron. What do I fucking do? I go ahead and put my fucking hands on him._

Angel continued to apply pressure to the pillow smothering his face, actually earning a couple of worried squeals from Fat Nuggets who was sniffing his owner curiously.

The days after the ‘Spider-Cookie Event’, also known as the ‘Pina-Colada Disaster’, him and Al have seen each other plenty of times around the Hotel. And somehow, it wasn’t awkward. Mostly because of Al, Angel had to admit. He behaved like he usually did. Or so it seemed. Light hearted conversation. Walking together around the garden. Idle chats at the bar. And sometimes, gentle touches on the forearm or the shoulder when Al actually laughed at something Angel had said. Which was new.

 _A good new._ He thought fondly.

Suddenly, the grip on his pillow softened as he peaked over it to look at the ceiling of his room.

He was truly and undoubtedly a complete idiot. He concluded.

But, in a way, a small part of him couldn’t help but rejoice at the euphoric memory of wrapping his hands around the Radio Demon. Feeling the soft fabric of that cheesy pink apron and the warmth of its wearer. Fingers caressing a narrow waist for just a second and the other’s soft hair slightly brushing against his cheek as he leaned in.

Angel tightened his grip on his pillow as he pressed it to his chest, already feeling his heart hammering inside of his chest at the memories.

And the look on Alastor’s face.

The white spider sighed contently and closed his eyes, envisioning the other’s expression again as realistically as he could muster.

The Radio Demon’s thoughtful, yet soft expression directed at the mittens in his hands was all but wiped off his face as two sets of arms gently wrapped around him from behind.

Angel heard the other’s breath hitch at the contact, his big red doe eyes gazing up at him in a mixture of surprise and anticipation, fluffy ears stiffening and pointing upwards even more conspicuously, making him look like a literal deer caught in headlights and the slight tinge of pink contrasting with the pale skin of his cheeks.

Angel subconsciously bit his lip at the memory.

At times like this, it wasn’t daring to lay his hands on Alastor that he was regretting.

It was not doing more.

Not raising his hand to cup a pink tinged cheek and feel the soft skin beneath with his thumb. Not tightening his arms around that tiny waist of Al’s and pressing their bodies together. Not leaning in and feeling hot breath brush against his face as he tilted his head and pressed his lips agains-

Angel shook his head and snapped out of his daydreaming.

He let out a whine before turning on his side, pillow still tightly tucked to his fluffy chest.

This had become quite the frequent occurrence by this point. Lying in bed and letting his imagination get the best of him.

At first it was actually comforting. Getting to relish in the memory of holding Al close to him and looking into his eyes while thanking him for the cookies he baked just for him.

But nowadays, it also came with some side effects. Side effects which consisted of leaving him with an awful sense of longing and wanting more.

He opened his eyes and looked at his pet pig who was still eying him curiously.

“Oh, Fat Nuggets.” He sighed as he gently picked up his pig and replaced the pillow on his chest with his pet who was feeling nothing short of content, nestling in the fluffy spot. Angel started absentmindedly caressing the small pig’s back.

“What are we going to do?”

And just before Angel could go back to succumbing to his array of emotions and thoughts again, the door to his room swung open, forcefully hitting the wall in the process.

The loud noise startled Angel who instantly sat up, holding Fat Nuggets protectively to his chest.

His eyes traveled to the door frame, only to find an annoyed Vaggie with her hands crossed over her chest.

“Hand over the pig.” She stated simply.

Angel’s eyes narrowed as he held Fat Nuggets tighter against his chest, almost suffocating him in the process.

“Nu’uh!” he said, shaking his head and pouting dramatically.”Over my dead body!”

Vaggie sighed and dragged a hand over her face before making her way inside the room.

“Well, since we’re already dead I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” She continued, reaching her hand out expectedly towards an incredulous looking Angel.

“You didn’t even ask! And I can’t just hand him around to everyone, he’s not an object!” He exclaimed, waving his lower set of arms around dramatically in frustration before cradling his pig in them and using the other set to playfully tease his little hooves.

“Ain’t that right, lil’ Nuggies? Ain’t that right?” He cooed at his pet. “We’re not gonna let the mean lady take you away. No, no!” He added, more out of spite towards the moth demon standing two feet away from him.

Vaggie groaned and rubbed her temples before continuing.

“Charlie told me we need a mascot for the Hotel and Al insisted that it should be your stupid pig.” She said, crossing her arms again.

Angel’s hands stilled abruptly before he slowly turned around to look at Vaggie with a curious look in his eyes.

_Insisted?_

Vaggie raised a brow.

“Charlie said Al has already talked to you and gotten your approval.” She said, eying him suspiciously.

“Oh! Uh, yeah.” Angel admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.”He did ask.”

“Good. Then hand him over.” She said, holding her hands in front of Angel expectedly again.

“B-But do you need him right now?!” Angel blurted out exasperated, not thrilled by the thought of losing his only emotional support at the moment for who knows how long.

“We need to find an appropriate costume for him for tomorrow’s party.” Vaggie inwardly cringed at her own words as she started rubbing her temple again with one hand.

Angel gasped at the answer.

He placed Fat Nuggets on the bed, stood up and leaned towards Vaggie, towering over her with both height and overwhelming excitement.

“A Party?!” He all but yelled.

He suddenly straightened up and placed a set of arms on his hips, suddenly feeling extremely offended at the prospect of not being asked to participate. It wasn’t like he was a nobody either. _No.1 Porn Star in all of Hell for over five decades and still going strong!_

“And nobody thought to invite me?!” He asked offence obvious in his voice.

Vaggie sighed at the tiring situation, before taking a deep breath.

“You’re part of the Hotel. Of course you’re invited.” She said, tone softening.”You’re part of the family.”

Angel’s eyes widened. All of his initial outrage suddenly vanished as his shoulders dropped, feeling a warm sensation in his chest.

It’s been a while since someone reminded him that he did indeed belong somewhere. As cheesy as that sounds.

He chuckled softly, already starting to feel how damp his eyes were getting.

“Yeah.” he said softly, a content smile making its way to his features.”You’re right”

He lifted his gaze only to see Vaggie wearing an understanding expression and a small smile directed at him.

Angel shook his head and lightly slapped his cheeks a couple of times to reinvigorate himself and get rid of any potential tears that might make their way out. He put on his brightest smile and picked up a squealing Fat Nuggets, giving him a quick kiss before handing him over to Vaggie who held him with much more struggle given her much smaller frame.

“Oh! I actually do have some pretty lil’ numbers for Nug’ Nug’ ‘round here!” Angel exclaimed excitedly, pulling open some drawers and rummaging through them.”So tell me, who else is invited?”

Vaggie grunted as she was struggling to hold the much bigger looking pig in her arms.

“Just a bunch of dumb Overlords and Higher Demons Charlie and Al figured would be interested in endorsing or sponsoring the Hotel.” She said as she sat down on Angel’s bed, giving up on holding the pig in her arms more than necessary, figuring she would be there for a while anyway because of Angel’s usual rambling. “And everyone here at the hotel, obviously.”

Angel’s smile widened at the thought of seeing Alastor again. He continued rummaging through his drawers while humming contently.

_I wonder if his coat is going to be clean by then._

Angel’s hands stopped mid-air for a brief second before gasping loudly and looking around frantically, startling both Vaggie and Fat Nuggets in the process.

“I’ve been looking for something for Fat Nuggets to wear, but what am **_I going to wear_**?!”

Vaggie rolled her eyes and stood up, taking Fat Nuggets in her arms.

“You can figure that on your own.”

She started making her way towards the door, seeing how Angel had already started throwing clothes from his wardrobe all over the place.

“It’s a pretty formal event from what Al said. I’m guessing a 20’s vibe with fancy clothes and slow dancing.”

Angel’s movements instantly halted, slowly turning towards Vaggie with wide eyes.

“Slow…Dancing?” The question was just above whisper.

“Yeah. So don’t wear any of your seven inch stripper heels, unless you want to leave some shitty Overlord without a couple of toes or a tail.” She actually snickered at the thought.” Which wouldn’t be that bad, actually.”

“W-Wait…I don’t-“

But before he could finish the sentence, the door was slammed shut again, leaving a petrified Angel between mounds of clothes sprawled across the floor.

For a good couple of minutes, Angel just stood there, staring at the door, as if waiting for Vaggie to come back. But that never happened.

He took a deep breath and sat down on the bed.

Now you see, Angel Dust was good at many things. Too many things, some would even say. Yes, most of them were lewd or sex-related, but he had other talents too. Like dancing. He could work a pole like no one else in all the 9 Circled of Hell. And demons were basically throwing themselves at his feet to receive a lap dance from him. Yes, that he could do.

But slow dancing? That was not on his list of aptitudes.

He did try before, even during his life above, he gave himself that, but it had always ended in tears or broken toes. And sometimes both.

He had thought that most likely, it just wasn’t for him. So he just stopped trying and disappointing himself over and over again. But it was alright. He never dwelt much on it.

Until today.

Angel started subconsciously biting his nails out of unease.

_Attending a party? Great!_

_A 20’s themed party? No problem!_

_Busting some moves and serving some looks? Sure._

_Slow Dancing? Nope. Never in a million years._

The bad part was that Al was going to be there and Angel would most likely just embarrass himself in front of him, because there was no fucking way Charlie would let his ‘First big name patron’ just sit on the side and drown his sorrow in whatever punch Husk would decide to throw on the table that day.

But what was worse was that Angel would give anything to actually share a slow dance with Al. He had dreamt countless times of just holding his waist and hand, gazing into each other’s eyes and gently swaying to the music like some cliché Chick Flick.

But now he won’t even be able to shoot his shot and ask him for a dance.

_Fuck my after-life._

Angel plopped back onto his bed, taking another plush pillow and smothering his face with it again.

 _Time for Plan B_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all really think you can escape at least one wholesome moment per chapter? *chuckles* Fools.
> 
> On a side note, I'm really sorry I haven't posted in decades. Just the fact that the time skip in this chapter is shorter then what it took me to get off my ass and actually write this chapter physically pains me. 
> 
> But as promised, the show goes on! Still love the characters and the show so there's plenty on the way!
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment and share any ideas or headcanons you might have! Especially Soft Alastor ones. Those get me out of bed in the morning.
> 
> Stay tuned.


	7. Not the Nicest Bunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor recalls some sad memories and ponders some peculiar similarities. Charlie needs some help with her morale and Alastor is nothing but 'delighted' to help. More doubts and second guessing for flustered local deer man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you really wanna hurt yourself reading this chapter, listen to 'Old Money' by Lana del Rey during the first half. It's what I did and it wasn't pretty. 
> 
> Enjoy~

Distinct static could be heard down the halls of the Hazbin Hotel as a certain Radio Demon was making his way to the main reception. He could teleport himself there, yes, but where would the fun in that be?

However, he had recently found out that mindlessly walking around the hotel unfortunately gave him plenty of time to reflect on recent events.

And on his thoughts regarding a certain white spider.

Alastor was humming softly to a tune he used to love during his life topside, hopelessly trying to focus on anything else other than Angel’s warm arms wrapped around him. But what was even more concerning was how for not even a second did he think about breaking free from his embrace.

A silent sigh escaped his lips as he got lost in thought again.

The Radio Demon was very well aware of his distaste, no, straight up repulsion regarding people breaking into his personal space and touching him. It was a trait that he unfortunately ended up carrying with him from his life above.

The last person he had been truly comfortable around and actually enjoyed the loving touch of was his mother and even that was taken away from him.

The long embraces that he would never let go of first and the loving praises and chuckles of his mother had always been memories that he cherished.

His stride slowed down until he stopped in the middle of the hallway, his usual smile dimming greatly.

Even if she was taken away from him so mercilessly.

Falling ill and being left to die in the place she once called home even if it was only her and her young son struggling to live another day.

She had always told him that he had a great voice and hearing her son talk would always brighten her day so he promised her that he’ll become the biggest radio host Louisiana had ever seen and take care of her. Buy her a big house with a roof that wouldn’t fill up entire buckets beneath it with water from the pouring rain outside, plenty of groceries to allow them to cook together again and a whole new wardrobe without any tattered or patched-up dresses.

He had promised her that he’d give them a good life.

His smile fell from his face altogether, leaving behind only a doleful downcast gaze.

_Only empty promises._

He held her hand as she gave her last breath in their run-down apartment down the road from the hospital. When he begged and begged the nurses to just spare a bottle of pills with all the money he had, they just laughed and threw him out.

His mother’s last words to him as he was crying and clinging to her feeble body and begging God not to take her away from him, were to always smile.

And so he did.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, the heavy feeling in his chest growing more and more unbearable by the second. Even so, he opened his eyes, straightened up and forced his usual grin back on his face.

But why was it that Angel’s warm embrace reminded him so much of the safety and love he had always felt around his mother? A sense of peacefulness and heart ease so genuine and vivid brought up by an embrace that had no hidden intentions. Just a simple act of gratitude.

Alastor’s eyes widened at the realization.

He trusted Angel.

And not only that, but he had come to grow so fond of him that he ended up enjoying even his physical presence. Even his arms wrapped around him from behind. Even his excessively fluffy chest pressed snugly against his back. Even his affectionate gaze and smile directed at no one but him.

Alastor subconsciously raised a hand to cover his mouth.

_Affectionate?_

He recalled so vividly how he had frozen up in the other’s arms and for once, he was grateful for that. Because if not, he might have ended up doing something stupid like turning around or raising his hands to cup the other’s face or standing up on his toes and just- 

A burning warmth made its way across the Radio Demon’s face as he incredulously realized what he was just about to admit. He pressed the cold palms of his hands against his face to cool himself off.

_What am I even thinking? How did I end up feeling so… human again?_

He let out one final sigh before shaking his head and attempting to continue his way down the hall.

However, he was suddenly stopped after only one step by the loud sound of a door being thrown open.

He turned around with a raised brow towards the source of the ruckus only to find an exasperated looking Vaggie gunning after a frightened and squealing Fat Nuggets.

“Come back here you swine!” a fuming Vaggie called out after the pig.

The little piglet was running for his life down the hall towards Alastor without even realizing it. Alastor chuckled at the sight, choosing to not move from his spot and watch as the pig ran right into him, bumping into his legs and falling on its back.

The little pig struggled to get back on his feet, but started squealing even louder and wiggling his hooves around as he saw an amused and grinning Alastor bending down to study him from up close.

The Radio Demon let out an amused laugh and summoned his tentacles when the pig finally managed to get back on its feet and was about to run away again, just to be picked up by cold black appendages.

Alastor then turned his gaze to Vaggie who was still running his way, panting and still trying to catch her breath. He tilted his head and gave her a curious look.

“I believe you were looking for this?” he said, raising a squealing Fat Nuggets higher in the air.

“Yeah.” She answered, still struggling to catch her breath.”Just give me a second.”

Alastor let out a quiet chuckle and waited for the other to take a couple of deep breaths and straighten up. He switched his gaze back to the pig lifted mid air and his thoughts wandered back to its owner.

“So, I trust everything went smoothly with Angel?” he said, not shifting his gaze from the pig.

“Yeah, as soon as he heard it was your idea at least.” She answered, rubbing her back.

Alastor’s eyes immediately moved to the other’s in surprise, not expecting Angel to actually think so fondly of him. Fondly enough to just give his pig away at just a mention of his name. As soon as he felt that dreadful warmth start coming back across his face, he raised a hand to cover a bashful smile and coughed awkwardly.

“W-Well, that is good to hear, I suppose.” He glued his eyes to the floor, which didn’t go unnoticed by Vaggie who was eying him suspiciously. “Here is the little beast.” He continued, having his tentacles lower the little pig into the other’s arms with a wave of his hand.

The moth demon groaned at the heavy weight being put back on her small frame and struggled to hold the pig still in her arms.

“Ugh, thanks.” She said, turning around to make her way down the hall.”I’ll see you tomorrow at the party I guess.”

Alastor smiled contently and waved his hand at her even though she was already making her way down the hall. He noticed her almost drop the struggling pig again as she turned round the corner, mumbling a couple of curses, and couldn’t help but let out a quick laugh.

_Always so entertaining._

He continued down the hall, forgetting all about his previous mournful pondering and impediments, summoning his microphone into one hand and having it play the song he was previously humming.

When he finally made his way to the reception downstairs, he was met with an excited Charlie browsing through some papers.

“Oh! Hi, Al! How are you feeling?”she said with a smile as soon as she noticed him making his way towards her.

Alastor raised a brow at the seemingly personal question. Such questions were only asked in two cases. Either just out of sheer politeness, which was never the case with Charlie, or out of genuine concern.

He let out a self-pitying chuckle.

_Am I that transparent?_

But decided not to dwell on it.

“Nothing short of smashing, dear! Thank you for asking!” he said, dramatically placing a hand over his chest. “How about yourself?”

“Oh, you know! All good, just a little nervous about the party tomorrow.” She answered, drawing her gaze back to her paperwork.

“How so?” he questioned, sitting down next to her.

“Well, it’s about the Overlords you invited. They don’t seem like the nicest bunch.” she admitted.

The Radio Demon chuckled quietly.

It was true. He had suggested these demons specifically, knowing very well there would be absolutely no chance of redemption for them. Leaders of Cartels. Gang members. Hell, even the leading Underworld Mafia chief. Basically every single organized crime syndicate willing to succumb to him out of either the possibility of a partnership, which was laughable, or just out of the sheer fear of suffering the consequences of turning down the Radio Demon.

Alastor was certain that even if some of these demons actually somehow ended up sponsoring or endorsing the Hotel, none of them would even consider the concept of redemption themselves.

He lowered his gaze, narrowing his eyes.

But a small part of him couldn’t help but worry about the very improbable, yet slightly possible case of Charlie’s foolish words of encouragement and blind trust getting to them. Much like her words have somehow cracked his own meticulously conceived shield and made their way into where his heart should have been. Making him doubt himself and his previously well established concepts and opinions regarding the “good” in demons, as much as it pained him to admit.

His defeat would be so much more humiliating in that case.

But he figured it was worth a shot. He had to somehow mend his broken pride.

“Oh, Charlie! No need to worry about that!” he feigned innocently.”I’m sure this party will be a complete success! After all, you’ve worked so hard for it and prepared everything so perfectly.”

She raised her eyes from the papers to look at the other with hope in her eyes.

“And don’t forget what you yourself said about all sinners. There’s a rainbow inside of every demon!” he inwardly cringed at his own words.”So that means there’s one in these as well!”

Charlie’s eyes were glowing with glee and resolve by the time he was done talking.

“Oh, Al!” she exclaimed, overjoyed at the thought of the other actually believing in her, if only just barely. She threw her arms around the other and caught him in a tight hug, failing to notice the shudder that went through him. “You always know what to say! You’re right! Everything’s going to turn out great!”

The Radio Demon immediately stiffened and wrinkled his nose at the unwanted contact.

“Yes, I’m absolutely positive.” he said, lightly patting her on the back. “Now may you please remove your hands?”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” she said, getting off the other as if recoiling from fire, with an apologetic look in her eyes.”I forgot you don’t like to be touched!”

Alastor straightened up and brushed some nonexistent dust off his shoulders in a nonchalant manner.

“That’s quite all right, dear.” He reassured.

He silently kept her company as she went back to work, offering to take some of her workload off her shoulders, which Charlie gladly accepted.

While browsing through the endless amount of paperwork, he couldn’t help but wonder why anyone else’s touches, even Charlie’s who was no doubt well intended at all times, except Angel’s seemed to bother him so much.

His smile grew strained as a puzzled frown twisted his features.

Actually, the question was why Angel’s touches didn’t seem to bother him at all. Not only that, but also make him feel content and warm inside. Making him want more.

He sighed as he pressed a batch of papers against his face, hiding the crimson red that he had unfortunately grown familiar with every time he remembered or thought about that stupid white spider, earning a curious and slightly worried look from Charlie.

“Um, Hi?” a voice came from above, making the Radio Demon look up from the papers pressed snuggly over his face only to be met with Angel Dust’s mismatched eyes.

_Just dandy._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to include some backstory for Al to better portray his character the way I wanted. And what better way to do that then to emotionally destroy all of you, myself included. And don't forget that he's still in Hell for a reason, so don't be surprised when he still has ulterior motives and acts like an ass. He has layers, like the red onion he is. Bless his tiny heart.
> 
> Again, thank you for reading and don't forget to leave a comment or a suggestion!
> 
> Stay tuned~


	8. Excuses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel attempts to convince Charlie that he can’t come to the party. Charlie isn’t having any of it. Alastor also uncovers some subtle details.

“Hi Angel!” the princess greeted a sheepish looking Angel who was rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.”How can I help you? Oh! And thank you so much for letting us borrow Fat Nuggets for the big event tomorrow!”

Alastor cleared his throat before opening his mouth to speak.

“Yes, very kind of you, my dear.”

“Oh, yeah… sure, no problem.” He said, clearly avoiding her gaze.”About that…”

Both Alastor and Charlie tilted their heads out of curiosity.

“Val just called and said he needs me at the studio tomorrow, Haha, so I guess I won’t be able to make it to the party tomorrow after all.” He laughed awkwardly, eyes glued to the ground.”Sorry ‘bout that!”

Alastor barely managed to suppress a laugh at the other’s horrible attempt at lying, switching his gaze to Charlie who narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips disbelievingly.

“You just said you have the whole week off yesterday.” She challenged, crossing her arms over her chest.

Alastor raised his eyebrows in surprise, not expecting Charlie to be so straight forward in voicing her disbelief. His grin widened, feeling exceptionally entertained at the prospect of seeing the princess actually stand up for herself and accuse the other of lying so blatantly.

His eyes went back to Angel who looked like he just got caught sneaking drugs into the Hotel again.

“Oh, uh…Haha! Did I say that?” he rubbed the back of his head again, this time fixing his gaze on the ceiling. “I meant that… I uh… I haven’t been feeling so well!” He continued, letting out a pathetic excuse of a cough and placing the back of his hand over his forehead dramatically. ”Damn withdrawals!”

Charlie actually looked offended at that one and it made holding back his laughter almost unbearable for Alastor, so he decided to join in.

“But you looked perfectly fine yesterday! You seemed so healthy and content coming back from your walk outside. Especially with that large bag of white powder in your hands!”

Angel’s eyes fell down on Alastor who was wearing the biggest grin his face could show, looking incredibly proud of himself. On the other hand, Angel felt like the ground was about to open up and swallow him whole, slowly shifting his eyes from Alastor to Charlie who was wearing the most unimpressed frown she could muster.

She let out a loud sigh and started rubbing her forehead with one hand.

To his credit, Angel did feel horrible for lying to get out of this, something that he ended up feeling too often when doing questionable things here at the Hotel.

_Damn Charlie. And damn this stupid Hotel! It’s taking a fucking tool on me._

He took one look at Alastor and despite wanting to kiss his stupid face, he couldn’t help but want to strangle him for ratting him out.

 _Well, it’s my fault for lying so much anyway_. He thought, leaving the thought of choking Alastor for his later fantasies.

Angel sighed in defeat and took a long breath before finally setting on telling the truth.

“Look, I just…It’s not that I don’t want to come, it’s just that…I don’t-“ he mustered, waving his hands around and swinging his hips to suggest what he was about to say.”Ugh…I can’t-“

Alastor raised a brow, getting a vague idea about what the other was about to say.

“That’s quite enough!” Charlie said, raising a hand to stop Angel from his rambling, startling both Angel and Alastor in the process.

“I don’t care what excuses you come up with!” she said, pointing an accusatory finger in Angel’s face. “I’m going to need you to be at the party! As my first patron for this Hotel AND as my friend!”

If Angel could sink deeper into the ground, he would, feeling guilt already starting to eat away at his already questionable conscience. Meanwhile, Alastor was feeling quite impressed, not thinking the princess had it in her to put someone in their place like that.

“I’m going to need you to show up, wear something nice, have a couple of dances and enjoy yourself!” she ordered menacingly, Alastor not missing how Angel winced at the last part, proving his suspicion.

“But I-“ Angel started, but got interrupted by the same hand in his face, signaling him to stop talking.

“I don’t want to hear it!” she stated firmly. “I’ll be seeing you at the party. Capeesh?”

Angel could do nothing but nod clumsily and hold his breath. He knew the princess could be scary, but he still wasn’t prepared for it.

“Good!” Charlie finished, making her way out of the reception hall and slamming the door behind her, leaving two startled demons behind.

Alastor and Angel looked at each other for a moment before Alastor started laughing. Angel just watched the other and dragged a hand over his face.

 _So there really is no way out of this._ He sighed and sat down next to Alastor who was still holding his sides from laughing so hard. _I’ll just have to embarrass myself in front of not only every Overlord in existence, but also in front of Al._

He took one more look at Al’s laughing face, taking in the genuine amusement in his features even if it was at his own expense.

_Fucking great._

“Who knew she had that in her?” Alastor said after finally calming down, wiping a tear from his eye.

“Did you really have to rat me out like that?” Angel said, new found amusement in his voice.

“Why I haven’t got the slightest idea what you’re talking about!” Alastor answered with a knowing grin, placing a hand on his chest, feigning being offended.

Angel actually laughed and gave the other an amused look.

“God, you’re such an asshole.” He chuckled, shaking his head.

Alastor tilted his head, taking a closer look at the other’s face.

“Maybe!” he said, earning a snort from the other.

He let his eyes wonder around Angel’s face enough time to figure out what had actually been bothering him. A big part of him told him to just leave and watch him struggle on his own, but another part of him…

Alastor closed his eyes and sighed in defeat, standing up, Angel eying him curiously.

“I believe I know what the issue here is.”He stated simply, noticing how the other tensed, also standing up.

“B-But how-“ Angel started, but was interrupted by the other.

“Meet me in my room tonight.” Alastor said, passing the other by and letting his hand gently brush against Angel’s forearm in a reassuring way, locking their eyes for just a moment.”I’ll help you out.”

Angel’s breath got caught in his throat. If it was from the invitation to Alastor’s room, the help he was offered or the warmth he was still feeling hovering over where the other’s fingers have been, he didn’t know. All he knew was that he had trouble breathing properly, looking behind to see Alastor making his way out of the main hall, swaying his hips to a tune he was humming.

_How do I even know if what he’s offering to help me with is even dancing?! What if I just got it wrong this whole ti-_

“Oh! And one more thing!” Alastor stopped and looked over his shoulder.”Please consider wearing something else. Something more comfortable perhaps!” He continued pointing at Angel’s thigh high stripper heels.

“I’d like to keep my feet intact in case of any missteps, thank you very much!” And with that, he turned round the corner and disappeared.

_Ok, so he knows._

Angel sighed in relief and plopped back down on his chair, gluing his eyes to the ceiling.

 _Private lessons with Smiles?_ A smirk made its way across his face. _Doesn’t sound too bad._

He could already feel butterflies filling his stomach at the thought of being in such close proximity with the other. Holding him close just like he’d imagined so many times before. Looking into his eyes and swaying to the music. Just the two of them.

Angel sighed contently, already in a euphoric state just from the thought of holding the other so close. And all of it at Al’s request too.

He reluctantly stood up and went to his room to find a suitable pair of shoes that wouldn’t crush the ligaments of any poor fucker’s foot that ended up being stepped on by him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter was kind of short, but fret not, things are going to move forward and you're going to hopefully thoroughly enjoy what comes next.
> 
> Again, thank you so much for reading and don't forget to leave a comment or an idea! It really means the world to me!
> 
> Stay tuned~


	9. Dancing Shoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel has a small breakdown over something minor. Alastor continues to question his choices. Dance lessons commence.

Angel Dust had officially given up.

An exasperated whine left his mouth as he closed his eyes and sprawled his limbs across the soft carpet in his room. He opened his eyes only to see a dozen of pairs of shoes thrown around on the floor. Heels. Platforms. Thigh High Boots. He grunted as he dragged a hand over his face out of pure frustration.

_Nothing even remotely comfortable._

He sighed as he reluctantly stood up to look around.

It wasn’t his fault he only had fashionable high heels to wear, he sighed dramatically. Aside from how hard it was to find shoes considering the shape of his feet, if he could even call them that. God, how he hated his feet sometimes.

He peaked over his fluffy chest down to his even fluffier bare spider paws that he didn’t get to walk around in very often due to his… self awareness.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes he took one last resigned look at the multitude of shoes surrounding him on the floor.

_Fuck it._

He turned around and roughly opened a drawer to pull out a pair of stripped socks. He swiftly put them on and spun around to take a look in the mirror. It didn’t look bad and it was the best he could do in that moment.

It was either this or not showing up for Al’s “slow dance” lesson at all and there was no way in all the 9 Circles he would pass up on that.

_Eh, good enough._

A sudden warmth started flaring from his chest at the thought of being alone with Alastor. Alone and close and dancing. He sighed with content as he pictured Al’s face sporting one of those rare genuine smiles of his that could melt all of Hell.

Angel took one last look in the mirror, straightening his casual, yet not too revealing outfit and winked at himself in an attempt to hype himself up for what might be the best night of his After-life.

“You got this.”

-

To say that the Radio Demon was regretting his choices would be a great understatement.

Alastor was pacing restlessly around his room, checking the clock every couple of seconds. How he ended up in this predicament by his own choice was a mystery to him. Inviting Angel Dust into his own room and consciously allowing him to put his hands all over him in an attempt to teach him how to dance properly? It was a conundrum.

He sighed in frustration as his restless pacing came to a stop.

He pictured the spider’s stunned expression when he offered to help him out, against his better judgment. But how could he just stand by and let that frown take over Angel’s usually charming smile? The Radio Demon could already feel his face heating up at the embarrassing subconscious confession.

 _Well, I suppose a promise is a promise_.

He checked the clock on his nightstand again, just about to start pacing around the room again just to be startled by a knock on the door.

He stared at the door hesitantly for one moment before taking a deep breath.

_What did I sign myself up for?_

He let out a long sigh and put on his best unaffected smile to cover up the fact that he was indeed very much affected. Anxious even. Uneasy. Overall, very unpleasant feelings to submit to.

He walked towards the door and opened it slowly, being greeted by a smug looking Angel Dust.

“I believe I have a dancing class scheduled for today?” he said, leaning on the frame of the door.

Alastor let out a quiet chuckle at the other’s nonchalant demeanor.

“Why yes, I do believe so too.” he said, slightly amused.”Do come in.”

He invited the other inside and closed the door behind him, following him to the middle of the room where he abruptly stopped, making the smaller demon bump into him.

Alastor eyed him curiously, but just as he was about open his mouth, the other turned around with a concerned expression, eyes glued to the ground.

“Look, thank you for offering to help me out, Smiles. It really means a lot.” Angel raised his gaze from the ground to the other’s eyes, flashing him a genuine smile and making Alastor’s insides bunch up in a knot. “But I gotta warn ya’, I’ve never done this before. I mean, I’ve tried but…” he trailed off, raising a hand to scratch the back of his head awkwardly.”Nothing has ever come out of it.”

Alastor stared at the other and blinked a couple of times in surprise, not expecting Angel to be so honest with him. The other usually just brushed off anything that he didn’t succeed in doing as unimportant or pointless and the Radio Demon himself was half expecting him to not be so invested in actually perfecting a skill that he didn’t even actually have.

Alastor chuckled at the thought of a clueless Angel Dust turning to him for help.

“No worries, my dear. Everything has a beginning!” he said, smiling reassuringly.

Angel swallowed thickly, almost melting on the spot at the other’s words of encouragement and soft expression. He shook his head and resumed his usual confident demeanor.

“So now how about you pop my slow-dancing cherry?” he said smugly, wiggling his eyebrows.

Alastor flashed him an unimpressed smile before closing his eyes and shaking his head in slight annoyance. He brought a hand to his forehead, lowered his head and opened his eyes only to find his breath caught in his throat.

Angel noticed the other’s wide eyed expression and worry instantly started building up inside him.

_Fuck, why did I say that?_

He hesitantly raised his hands in front of him, attempting to pat Alastor on the shoulder reassuringly but remembering his aversion to being touched and opting to instead open his mouth in an attempt to explain himself.

“Look, I didn’t mean it like tha-“

“Are you not wearing any…shoes?”

Angel blinked in confusion and lowered his gaze to where the other was looking, eying his sock covered spider paws.

_Oh._

Angel sighed in relief and let his posture relax. He let out a quiet chuckle.

“Well you asked me not to wear anything potentially… dangerous.” he said, rubbing the back of his head again, noticing the other’s curious gaze glued to his pink and white stripped socks.”And since I don’t really have anythin’ else other than heels and platforms, I though I could just, ya’ know…”

“Not wear any shoes at all?”Alastor finished, switching his curious gaze back to Angel’s.

Angel tried to think of a smart answer, but nothing came up.

“Uh…Yeah, pretty much.” He answered hesitantly.

Alastor held his gaze for a moment before bursting out laughing. Angel too chuckled at the absurdity of the situation, shaking his head with amusement and taking in the other’s hearty laughter.

“Goodness, Angel!” he said, wiping a tear from his eye, placing a hand on his chest and letting an applauding track play in the background.”There is never a single boring moment with you, now is there?”

Angel laughed at the compliment and averted his gaze to the ground instead of holding Alastor’s fond one out of fear that he might end up doing something that he’ll regret later.

“I guess not.” He said, just above a whisper, already feeling his cheeks heat up.

Alastor took one last look at the oddly adorable sock covered paws and felt a pang of fondness in his chest at the thought of Angel choosing to rather go bare foot then to wear any of his fancy and dangerous looking foot wear and risk the possibly of leaving the deer demon without a couple of toes. He could already feel the dreaded warmth starting to engulf his cheeks at the thought.

He cleared his throat before speaking again.

“ _Echem…_ Well, let us focus on the task at hand, shall we?” he said, moving his gaze back to Angel’s.

“Oh! Yeah, totally!” he said, seemingly caught off guard. He straightened his back and moved closer to the other, but not close enough to make the other uncomfortable, choosing to let Alastor make the first move.

“Now, how much do you know about dancing? The proper kind, that is.” Alastor asked, folding his hands behind his back and gazing up at the taller demon expectedly.

“Oh, uh…Well, I know that there’s two partners and they uh… hold hands and they hold… each other?” Angel trailed off, inwardly cringing at how overly intimate he was making it sound, most likely making Alastor uncomfortable just with his description of it.

“Yes, that is correct.”Alastor answered simply.”Anything else?”

“Uhh…and they move to the rhythm of the music, I guess?”Angel finished, feeling horribly embarrassed of his silly answers.

“Putting it simply, yes. I see you have the theory down... relatively.” He said, undoing the buttons of his coat and taking it off his shoulders. “Now let’s see it in practice.”

Angel swallowed hard at the prospect of seeing Alastor undress so casually in front of him.

He watched the other waltz to the desk in the corner of his room and place his coat neatly on it.

He let a smile adorn his features as he thought about how much their relationship has grown, enough to make Al undress, if even only of his coat in front of him. Yes, he had seen the other without his coat before, but seeing Alastor actually remove articles of clothing in his presence was a first.

He couldn’t even imagine Alastor being willing to untie two buttons off his coat in front of him when they had first met.

The feeling of Al being comfortable around him was enough to make his heart hammer inside of his ribcage.

He was snapped from his day dreaming by the other standing in front of him and looking him up and down thoughtfully.

“Well, since you **are** _echem_ … taller, I suppose you should lead.” He said, averting his gaze.

Angel blinked in confusion for a second before letting an amused smirk twist his features.

_Well, who knew the big bad Radio Demon could be self-conscious about his tiny frame?_

Angel suppressed a fond chuckle.

_I guess we all have our demons._

Alastor cleared his throat and loosened his bowtie slightly before locking eyes with Angel again.

“Well now.” he said, holding out a hand for the other to take. ”Shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think I documented myself about slow dancing from wikihow, that is absolutely preposterous and absolutely correct. Next chapter is going to be much longer, almost double the words in this one, so bear with me for just a bit more. 
> 
> After the next chapter, all of you better be able to know how to slow dance as well. And a couple of other things too 👀. You're welcome.
> 
> Thank you so much for all of your kind comments! Even though I didn't answer all of them due to the lack of time or just because I get too flustered and emotional over them, just know that I do read them and that I'm unbelievably grateful for each and every one of them. Your support really means a lot to me!
> 
> Thank you for reading and for your support! Don't forget to leave a comment or a potential idea!
> 
> Stay tuned~


	10. Something Foolish

_“Well now, shall we?” he said, holding out a hand for the other to take._

For just a second, Angel’s brain stopped working and went into full panic.

_Ok, this is happening. This is actually fucking happening._

He took a deep breath to calm down his overwhelming excitement and resumed his usual confident attitude.

“You know it, sugar.” He said with a wink, gently wrapping his fingers around the other’s outstretched hand.

Alastor immediately tensed at the contact, memories of Angel’s hands wrapped around him taking over every thought he might’ve had.

_If this is what just touching hands makes me feel like, I can’t even imagine what is going to happen later…_

He swallowed thickly and straightened his back accordingly.

“Now, place your right hand on my waist.” He said simply, looking at the other’s second set of hands.”You may place the others wherever you see fit.”

Angel stiffened at the request, narrowing his eyes skeptically. Alastor sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Yes, it is all right.” He pointed out reassuringly.”You may touch me.”

Angel nodded understandingly and lightly placed the palm of his hand on the smaller demon’s waist, choosing to fold his other set of arms behind his back, figuring that he shouldn’t touch Alastor more than necessary. Alastor tried to get comfortable with the other’s warm touch, since there would be a lot of it that night anyway.

Alastor gently wrapped a hand around Angel’s shoulder and stepped forward, closing in the distance between them.

Angel’s breath got caught in his throat as their bodies came to be only inches apart, already feeling Alastor’s hot breath against his neck.

“And regardless if you end up leading or not, try to avoid having a stiff posture while you’re slow dancing.” Alastor instructed.

Angel nodded and straightened up, looking at Alastor in anticipation.

“All right. Now, you should take one step to the right and one step to the left.” the smaller demon said, tightening his grip on Angel’s hand and shoulder.”Try to mirror what I’m doing.”

Alastor started slowly moving side to side, Angel doing his best to follow the movement. His gaze instinctively fell to his feet, trying to make his movements match Alastor’s as accurately as possible. However, the Radio Demon noticed the misplaced focus of the other and pointed it out.

“Eyes up here.” he said, but immediately regretted as black and white eyes fell on him.

It was in that moment that Alastor realized the intimacy that came with the close proximity of dancing with Angel Dust. The taller demon’s face was inches apart from his own and to his chagrin, instead of being completely repulsed and put off by such a blatant invasion of personal space, he found himself almost hypnotized by his gaze, subconsciously leaning in.

Angel chuckled awkwardly as he glanced at their feet one more time, unaware of the other’s internal turmoil.

“Sorry, I was just trying to get the steps right.” He justified himself as he readjusted his gaze to the other’s face.

Angel wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or just wishful thinking, but he could swear the smaller demon was starting to lean towards him.

Alastor blinked a couple of times at the other’s answer, before softly shaking his head to clear his head. He switched his gaze to the old radio on his nightstand and stopped their swaying.

“No worries. I know something that will help!” he withdrew his hand from Angel’s and snapped his fingers, music starting to flow from the old radio Alastor was eying earlier.

Angel turned his head to look at the source of the music with an amused smile on his face. He could never get enough of Al’s small tricks and magic skills. He watched the other snap his fingers a couple more times, changing the channels while doing so, before settling on an old French ballad.

“Ah! Perfect.” he exclaimed pleased, placing his hand back against Angel’s, resuming their swaying.

Angel laughed softly at the other’s genuine excitement, not expecting him to actually enjoy teaching him how to dance so much.

“Gotta say, that’s much better.” Angel said, moving with more ease and precision now that he had a rhythm to work with. He actually found himself enjoying the dancing, regardless of the fact that he had learned the steps, and just barely, about 5 minutes ago.

They continued to move along to the rhythm of the music for a couple of minutes, Alastor’s eyes glued somewhere behind the other, not noticing the loving gaze directed at him from above.

The smaller demon let his gaze trail back to Angel, absentmindedly looking slightly down with a content smile, letting his mind wander. Thinking about how mindful the other had been around him. Not touching him unless given express permission and patiently listening to his instructions without any snarky replies. A genuine smile crept on his face as he thought about how much he had come to enjoy the other’s presence.

_And to think that Angel Dust would turn out to be such a delightful dance partner._

He let out a puff of air at the thought, subconsciously tightening his grip on the other.

“Hey!” Angel said, amusement obvious in his voice, snapping Alastor out of his daydreaming.”Eyes up here.”

Alastor’s eyes focused on where his gaze had trailed to only to find himself staring directly at Angel’s fluffy chest.

His breath got caught in his throat, his face immediately turning red as he stopped his movements altogether. He opened his mouth to try and profusely apologize, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by the other’s sudden burst of laughter.

“It’s fine, Al!” he said through fits of laughter, clearly amused by the other’s reaction.”I know you were just spacing out.”

Alastor visibly calmed down at the observation, letting out a relieved sigh, feeling Angel resume their dancing and following through. He cleared his throat before speaking again.

“I-It was still very inappropriate of me.” he said, averting his gaze.”I do apologize.”

Angel chuckled at the other’s proper demeanor, thinking oh how nice it was to be respected every once in a while, considering his very different work clientele.

Thinking of how nice it was to be treated like an actual person again.

And damn it if Alastor didn’t make him feel like the luckiest demon in Hell.

If only just by being allowed to hold him so close, to hold his hand and waist and slowly sway to the music.

“Don’t sweat it, Smiles.” he mused, giving the other a knowing grin.”It’s gonna take more than that to get rid of me.”

Alastor’s tense shoulders mellowed out somewhat at the soft tone of the other’s voice. His eyes traveled up to meet the other’s tender gaze directed at no one else but him and he could already feel his knees start to buckle.

Who would have thought? The Radio Demon. Head over heels for some bug. A charming, endearing, silly little bug.

“I sure do hope so, my dear.” He answered, chuckling and turning his usual grin into a softer smile, keeping his eyes on the other.

He was doing his best to continue swaying to the music, but Angel’s gaze was making it almost impossibly difficult to concentrate.

Meanwhile, Angel couldn’t feel more content, letting his eyes rest on Alastor’s face, taking in every feature while fighting the urge to tighten his grip on his waist and press their bodies flush against each other.

But just being in such close proximity with Al was more than enough. Getting to look into those red doe eyes of his. Holding him so close he could literally feel his breath caressing his neck. Just the two of them, slowly swaying to an old tune on the radio.

 _Oh, God_. He though helplessly.

It was turning out to be too much.

Alastor could feel his non-existent heart start hammering inside his chest, just begging him to give in. To do something he will surely end up regretting later. Something foolish.

Something he had been yearning for.

The song on the radio came to an end and for a brief moment the room was engulfed in nothing but a faint static, making it seem like the world around them had stopped existing. Yet they kept dancing.

Alastor’s eyes fell on the other’s lips for not more than a brief moment and suddenly, there was no turning back. He couldn’t control his body anymore as he leaned in, eyelids hooding his eyes as he held his breath.

Angel noticed the other’s movement slowing down and his small frame seemingly leaning towards him again, but this time he didn’t care if it was his imagination or not. He didn’t care about anything else other than tasting Alastor’s soft lips in that very moment.

Ignoring one last cry for him to stop by his conscience, he closed his eyes and leaned towards the smaller demon, already feeling his hot breath against his lips. But it all came to a halt when he heard a sharp yelp from the other and opened his eyes only to see Alastor stepping back and wincing, rubbing at his foot.

He blinked in confusion and looked down only to see the sharp claws from his paws had somehow made their way into Alastor’s foot, digging into the material of his shoe. ‘Somehow’, as in Angel accidentally stepping on the smaller demon’s foot without even realizing it. And that had turned out to be even worse because of his sharp claws that came out as a ‘defense mechanism’ for when he felt threatened. Even if what he was threatened by were his own emotions.

It finally dawned on him what happened.

_Stupid Spider instincts._

He closed his eyes in frustration and sighed, before reaching out a hesitant hand to the other.

Alastor was trying to balance himself on one foot to rub the other, one hand firmly placed on Angel’s shoulder. He could only hope that the other didn’t notice just how badly his hands were shaking.

_What was I about to do?_

He continued to rub his foot even though he couldn’t feel any pain. He could only feel the horror of what he had just been about to do start weighing him down.

**_What was I just about to do?_ **

“Al, are you all right?”asked a worried Angel, snapping him out of his thoughts.”I’m so sorry! This just happens sometimes!”he continued, pointing at his claws with one set of arms.”It’s the stupid spider instincts!”

Alastor looked up at the other, already feeling relieved at how quickly he got over what was just about to happen. Or maybe he didn’t even notice. Even better.

He let out a strained chuckle as he straightened up, looking his partially torn shoe over, even though no real damage had been done bellow the material.

“I’m fine, my dear.” He said, flashing another reassuring smile and standing back on his own feet to prove his point.”Everything is all right. I was just startled.”

Angel sighed, not believing how calm the other was being about this whole ordeal.

_First, he offers to help me even though there’s no reason for him to, and I come in here and put my hands on him and get in his personal space and almost…_

He lowered his head, turned around and sat down on the bed, letting his head drop in his hands.

_Ugh, he must hate me now._

Alastor’s eyes were following the other curiously as he had managed to calm down somewhat. He approached Angel next to the bed, however, not sure what to say or how to handle the situation. It was something far too unfamiliar for him.

“Why do I ruin everything?”Angel suddenly said, voice muffled by the hands covering his face.

Alastor tilted his head at the other’s words, previously unaware of Angel’s self incriminating attitude.

“Dear, you didn’t ruin anything.” he said, sitting down on the bed next to the taller demon.”It just takes a bit of practice.”

Alastor placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, making Angel raise his head and look up at him with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

An amusing idea made its way through the Radio Demon’s mind as he abruptly stood up.

“I have an idea!” the Radio Demon suddenly exclaimed with an amused grin, abruptly standing up.”Let’s try something a bit different. I do believe you’ll enjoy this more!”

Angel eyed him curiously, wondering what gnarly idea the other had come up with to help out this time.

Alastor snapped his fingers and music began to flow throughout the room once more, switching between channels until a surprisingly lively old tune filled the place. He gestured to Angel to come to him, which the latter very swiftly obliged.

“Now, I think you’ve heard of this particular style of dancing. It’s from our darling, Husk’s period.” he explained, clearly excited by this new amazing idea he was about to let Angel in on.”Given that it is not as…graceful, I personally find it much more entertaining!”

Angel listened in carefully, still not figuring out what kind of dancing this was, but damn it if this time he wouldn’t give everything he’s got.

“You just need to hold my hands.” he said, taking the other’s hands in his own.”And now we both step forward at the same time and then jump back.”

He demonstrated the movement in a slower manner for Angel to carefully examine.

“Oh! You mean like in that one Christina Aguilera Music Video?” Angel exclaimed, seemingly having a life-changing revelation.

Alastor slowed down and tilted his head in confusion at the other’s comparison, not understanding the reference one bit.

“Um, I suppose?” he said, smile turning strained as he squinted at the other in bewilderment.

Angel chuckled and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, momentarily forgetting about the disinterest Alastor had regarding technology and new music, and thus, Christina Aguilera.

“All right.” The taller demon said, hesitantly attempting to try the movement, being extra mindful of the other’s feet since the dance seemed to be a bit more…aggressive.

He tried to carefully do the movement a couple of times, opting to just step backwards instead of jumping, thus earning a chuckle from the other.

“Why, Angel, I thought you could do better than this!” he said, playfully teasing the other.”Are you perhaps tired from all that swaying?”

Angel raised a brow, a smirk making its way on his face.

_Oh, it’s on._

“Challenge accepted, sugar!” he said, picking up the pace and moving along more rigorously.”Just don’t get left behind.”

They both laughed as they swayed their hips to the tunes on the radio, unawarely interlacing their fingers together and dancing until the early hours of the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The one 'Christina Aguilera Music Video' Angel is referring to is this one:
> 
> [Christina Aguilera™](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ScjucUV8v0)
> 
> If you haven't figured out what kind of dance Al is trying to teach Angel at the end because of my questionable attempts at explaining it, It's Swing.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and I hope y'all have learned how to dance and how to properly step on your partner's feet. You're welcome. And don't worry, the story ain't over. We still haven't got to the good stuff. And besides, I got plenty more ideas in stock.
> 
> P.S. When I said Slow Burn, I meant it 👀
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment or a possible idea or headcannon for future chapters!
> 
> Stay tuned~


	11. So smitten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of Angel and Vaggie's real names. Sorry for the spoilers.
> 
> Angel ponders on what had happened the previous night. He misses a special 'someone'. And then, he realizes something.

“Ugh.” Angel cracked his back as he stood up from his bed. Bold of him to assume that a whole night of ‘practicing dancing’ wouldn’t take a tool on him the morning after. But then again, he’d had worse mornings and definitely worse nights.

He smiled as he stretched and sighed contently as he recalled last night’s events.

Alastor had invited him to his room to teach him how to slow dance for today’s party and he ended up actually doing a pretty decent job until he ended up stepping on the other’s foot and almost stabbing him with his stupid spider claws.

He put his hands on his hips and looked around the room, eying the pairs of heels he ended up ditching the night before that were still sprawled on the floor. He let out a relieved sigh.

_Phew. Dodged a bullet right there._

He couldn’t even imagine what would have happened if he had showed up wearing one of these 7’inch monstrosities. Poor Al’s feet would have ended up completely mutilated. Most likely followed by Angel’s face too, as a consequence.

But even so, Alastor had been so amiable and understanding towards him. He had offered to teach Angel a more lively style of dancing just to cheer him up and that ended up being right up his aisle. Jumping around and swaying their hips to the music on Al’s radio. Angel sighed with content.

_What a night._

And Angel, being the improvisational star that he was, even threw in a dip and some turns. Even without dropping Alastor.

 _I’m basically a professional at this point_. He thought smugly.

He recalled Alastor’s genuine laughs and smiles from last night and the impressed look on his face when Angel had actually managed to dip Alastor without cracking his head open or breaking one of his antlers, even though the smaller demon told him that if he’d do it again he’d break his arms.

 _Guess one dip was enough_.

But what he remembered most vividly was how their eyes locked when they were slowly swaying together to the French ballads on the radio. How Alastor’s fingers tightened, if only a little, on his hand and shoulder. How Angel was ready to throw everything out the window just to lean down and press his lips against the Alastor’s. To taste them and feel how soft he had always imagined they’d be.

But due to _echem_ certain events _echem_ , all of that had quickly come to an end.

And in a way, Angel was thankful for that. Because if he would have ended up giving in to that one moment of yearning, he would have only stolen a kiss from Alastor and made him think that he’d taken advantage of him. Which couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Angel wanted Alastor to feel for him what he was feeling for the Radio Demon. Or at least just half of that. Hell, even a quarter.

But even if he didn’t, that was all right. He cherished his friendship with Alastor so much, he couldn’t even bare the thought of destroying this special bond of theirs just because he wanted to satisfy a part of him that was longing for the other’s affection.

Just seeing Alastor’s genuine smiles and hearing his glee-filled laughter, dining with him and getting to enjoy his cooking, hearing him talk about anything and everything, holding his hand as they swayed to the music and looked into each other’s eyes. That was enough for Angel.

But sometimes, he just couldn’t help but want to pull Alastor closer to him and rest his head on the smaller demon’s shoulder. To wrap all three sets of arms around him so tightly that they both couldn’t breathe anymore. To caress his face and lean down and just…

Angel shook his head and frowned.

 _I wanted to kiss him so badly I almost threw away everything we had going._ He thought dejectedly. _God, how fucking selfish am I?_

He was absolutely, completely and utterly sure that giving in and kissing Alastor would have been a complete mistake and would have marked the indisputable end of their friendship. But a small part of him…

A small part of him remembered an Alastor whose dreamy gaze was directed up at him with such internal conflict and longing that it almost seemed like it mirrored his own. An Alastor whose half lidded eyes almost begged him to lean down towards him so that the smaller demon wouldn’t have to be the catalyst for the destruction of everything they’ve built so far. An Alastor who closed his eyes and finally gave in and leaned towards him, feeling his hot breath against his skin, ready to make the biggest mistake of his after-life and enjoy every single fucking second of it.

Angel let out a shaky breath at the thought.

It all seemed too good to be true. And maybe it was indeed too good to be true. He might have just imagined it all. Just his stupid heart playing tricks on him again.

 _Just wishful thinking, most likely._ He came to the sad conclusion.

But at least he still had Al. If only just as a friend. And all these amazing memories with him. And he wouldn’t trade them for the world.

And besides, he still had a party to attend to and hopefully dancing with Smiles again wouldn’t be completely off the table. He wanted to have him all to himself if only just for one dance unless all the other guests didn’t smother him and dance his feet off.

He rummaged through his closet and settled on a couple of dresses and threw them on his bed, figuring that he’ll make a decision later. In that moment, he needed a proper distraction and not even his favorite sequence gown could take his mind off the Radio Demon.

He was left with a helpless sense of longing and sighed again. He felt like something was missing. His eyes fell on the fluffy little bed next to his own and he gasped as realization finally downed on him.

He missed his pig.

The only ‘one’ who would always just sit quietly and listen to his endless ramblings about Alastor and how much he wanted to kiss that bastard’s face off. Some would even refer to Fat Nuggets as an ‘emotional support’ pet and Angel would completely agree.

So he hurriedly walked towards the door, settling on heading towards Vaggie’s room to check up on his beloved pig.

He would have very much preferred to burst through her door much like she had been doing to him all this time, but instead opted to not retaliate in such a petty way and to instead just knock. He waited for the other to open up, but all he heard behind the closed door was loud thrashing and grunting.

His curiosity got the best of him as he pressed the doorknob down, letting himself in only to be greeted by the sight of an exasperated looking Vaggie trying to shove a struggling and very obviously non-cooperative Fat Nuggets in a dress.

Angel would have actually laughed if his dear Fat Nuggets wouldn’t have been struggling so hard and squealing for his life.

“Hey!”Angel called out, doing his best not to burst out laughing at the much shorter demon’s struggle to just hold his pig up.”Let him go! He doesn’t like that.”

Vaggie and Fat Nuggets both looked at Angel who had made his presence known and crossed both sets of arms in front of him expectedly.

The not so small pig squealed out of pure joy at the sight of his beloved owner returning for him and jumped out of Vaggie’s wobbly arms, making his way to Angel Dust and snuggling against feet for dear life. Angel bent down, picked his very much missed pig and kissed the top of his head before cradling him against his fluffy chest, cooing words of comfort until Vaggie finally caught her breath and sat down on her bed out of pure exhaustion.

“He doesn’t want to stay still.” she sighed.”I can’t put him in this stupid thing.”

Angel suspiciously eyed the atrocious monstrosity that was the small green dress which was obviously too small for his pig that Vaggie was trying to shove Fat Nuggets in.

“Well, can you blame him? I wouldn’t want to be put in that hideous excuse of a dress either.” He challenged, protectively holding Fat Nuggets tighter against his chest. “Is there nothing else you can dress him in?”

“Unfortunately, there aren’t many pig costumes lying around, smartass.” She answered, giving the other an unimpressed look.

Angel returned her look and sighed in frustration.

“ _I_ have some things _lying around_ in my room that he’d actually look pretty fancy in. If you would just listen to what I’m saying sometimes, _Vagatha_.” he said, pouting and narrowing his eyes at the other.

Vaggie shot him a nasty glare at the use of her human name and stood up, crossing her arms.

“I _was_ listening, but you were too busy whining about not being invited to the party and not having the time to find an ‘outfit’, _Anthony_.” She retaliated.

Angel remained silent and just chose to return the glare the other demon was drowning him in, not having anything to say back to that.

 _Touché_.

They both glared at each other until the pig in Angel’s arms started squealing out of fear because of their apparently frighteningly aggressive expressions and attitudes directed at each other, trapping poor Fat Nuggets between them. The two demons were both startled by the pig’s noises and looked at him struggling to hide further in Angel’s fluffy bosom. They looked back at each other and couldn’t help but chuckle at the poor pig wrapped around Angel’s arms.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”Angel admitted on a more amiable tone. “I guess I can find a nice little bowtie for him and just call it a day.

“Thanks, Angel.” she said, being genuinely thankful for the other’s offer to help.”… And sorry for yelling.”

“Eh, it’s fine, toots.” Angel shrugged and gave the other a mischievous grin.”Nothing I ain’t used to.”

Vaggie chuckled and crossed her arms across her chest, fixing Angel with a content gaze.

“I heard from Charlie that you tried to get out of coming to the party.” She mussed.

“Ugh, emphasis on _tried_.” Angel whined at the memory.”But she was having none of it. And she can be so scary sometimes.”

“Yeah, one of her many hidden qualities.” Vaggie chuckled at the thought of her beloved girlfriend scaring Angel Dust into submission.”And besides, you suck at lying.”

“Hey! You’re making it sound like it’s a bad thing!” Angel laughed out loud, raising his eyebrows in amusement.”Shouldn’t this be a place that discourages sin?” he teased, using Vaggie’s exact wording from many times before.

“I can’t argue with that.” she shrugged.”I tried getting out of it too, to be honest. But saying no to her is just so damn hard sometimes.”

Vaggie’s cheeks were painted a soft shade of pink when she spoke and her expression turned almost bashful at the thought of her girlfriend.

Angel stared at her for a couple of moments, not out of jealousy or a patronizing need to belittle her emotions, but out of sheer curiosity.

 _Do I look like that too when I think about Alastor?_ Angel pondered. _So… so smitten?_

Vaggie cleared her throat before she spoke again and snapped Angel out of his thoughts.

“But I still can’t believe I agreed to that.” She said, Angel turning around and sitting on bed next to her.”And now we have to humor some pompous Overlords, fool around and see them pretend to actually care about this Hotel and not just try to take advantage of it.”

Angel sighed at the other’s rightfully placed concerns and doubts, understanding where she was coming from.

“God, I wish they would all just get run over.” She said, frustration obvious in her voice.

Angel chuckled at her honesty, completely sharing the feeling.

“Yeah, that makes two of u-“ his breath got caught in his throat as realization went down on him. He all but dropped Fat Nuggets on the ground and abruptly stood up, a look of pure terror frozen on his face.

Vaggie eyes him curiously as she stood up too, not quite understanding where Angel’s sudden change of behavior had come from.

“Are you all righ-“

“I need to go.” Angel quickly said, finally managing to take in a breath of air. He swiftly handed his pig to the other and dashed out the door, leaving a dumbfounded Vaggie behind.

Angel ran as fast as his long spider legs could carry him, throwing open the door to his room and looking around erratically. He opened drawers, threw bed covers around and rummaged through his wardrobe, but found nothing.

_Where is it?!_

He could feel his knees start to buckle at the possibility of it being too late.

**_Where the fuck is it?_ **

He then suddenly realized that he hadn’t checked one more place. The bar.

He ran out of his room and dashed down the stairs, making his way towards the bar. He looked around and groaned when he found nothing again.

“Looking for this?” he heard Husk’s voice from behind the counter and raised his head only to find the other holding up his pink phone.

“Yes!” he quickly grabbed the phone from his paw and walked towards the main hall. He sat down on one of the couches and waited a few moments to catch his breath again and calm down.

 _There’s still a chance…_ He couldn’t help but cling to the thought. _There’s still a chance I can fix this._

He opened his phone with clammy fingers and dialed the first name on his contact list, before placing it against his head, feet nervously tapping against the floor.

_Please pick up. Please pick up. Please pick up._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I heard in the comments that y'all like to suffer. So here. Have a cliffhanger 👀 
> 
> I'm sorry this chapter ended up taking longer than usual. I started writing a chapter that's planned for later because I just couldn't help myself and I ended up pulling an all-nighter again to get this one done as quickly as possible as well. 
> 
> And again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for everyone's kind words. They're the very reason I open up my laptop everyday to work on this mess. They really mean a lot to me ❤️
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment or an idea or even just a headcanon and I'll consider using it!
> 
> Stay tuned~


	12. I can fix this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel realizes it's too late to change his mind now and he is faced with the consequences.

Angel’s feet were erratically tapping against the floor as he clutched his phone to his ear for dear life. He just sat there for what seemed like an eternity, biting his nails out of frustration and just when he was ready to hang up and try again, he finally heard the other pick up.

“Hey Angel! How’s my favorite hooker doing?” Cherry’s voice finally came out to Angel’s relief.

“Cherry! Thank God.” Angel all but shouted.

He needed to make sure that it wasn’t too late to fix things yet and go back on his previous plan B.

“Do you remember what I asked you to do last night?” Angel spoke up, trying to keep his voice calm and collected.

“D’uh. I had a blast doing it.” She laughed at the memory, making Angel’s breath catch in his throat.”Poor fuckers didn’t even see it coming.”

Angel swallowed hard and did his best not to drop the phone from his hand.

“A-All of them?” he asked incredulously.

“Yup. Don’t underestimate me, baby.” Cherry said smugly. “There were some pretty tough cookies on that list of Overlords you gave me. So I had to improvise a bit. I had some of Sir Loser’s Minions stocked up in my fridge just in case and dropped a couple of them around the tougher demon’s territory as a threat. And of course they got pissed and went after their boss, ending up blowing each other up.”

Angel did his best not to zone out and think back to when he had stolen the list of Overlords invited to the party from Charlie’s office and as a last ditch attempt to get out of having to embarrass himself in front of them, asked Cherry to take care of them and _make sure_ they wouldn’t end up showing up at the Hotel at all.

Of course, all of it before Alastor had offered to help him out and teach him how to properly dance, sparing him from his previously inevitable humiliation.

Before they had danced together the whole night.

Before he had found out that the smaller demon was actually looking forward to the party.

And before he had realized that this stupid party wasn’t the end of the world, but rather another chance to see Alastor genuinely laughing, smiling and enjoying himself, even if it was at the expense of some poor unfortunate fuckers just happening to cross paths with him. And to hold him close again while dancing.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Cherry’s mischievous laughter.

“Damn, I almost feel bad for that nerd. Almost.” Cherry went on, proudly explaining how she got to witness Sir Pentious get thrashed yet again. “You should’ve seen the look on his face when all these big hot shots showed up, ready to beat his face in! His dumb snake senses didn’t even see it coming!”

Dread started pooling inside of Angel’s gut, as he finally realized that there was no going back. There was no way he could fix this. It was already too late. He groaned out of sheer frustration and self-loathing.

_Why do I have to always mess everything up?_

“Hello? Hell to Angel Dust!” Cherry called out, genuine concern taking over her voice.”Is everything all right with you?”

Angel sighed and let his shoulders drop.

“Yeah, it’s just tha-“

“Why hello there, Angel!” the radio static filled voice startled Angel to the point of almost toppling over with the couch.

He looked up only to find a curious looking Alastor looking him over.

He immediately slammed his phone shut and hid it behind his back, wishing that he could hide what he had ended up doing just as easily.

“Uh… Hi, Al.” he tried to sound as calm and unaffected as possible, but failing miserably. “W-What’s up?”

“Oh, not much I’m afraid.” He answered, having grown familiar with the slang Angel usually used nowadays and understanding it somewhat. “I must confess, however, last night had turned out to be very entertaining!”

Angel was already starting to feel guilt pilling up in his throat and slowly beginning to literally choke him.

“O-Oh, is that so…” he said meekly, shifting his gaze between Alastor and the ground, not bearing to look at the sincere joy in his eyes.

“Why, yes. I found myself enjoying our little dance lesson quite a bit, actually.” He said, not failing to notice the hard time Angel was having holding his gaze. “I even ended up looking forward to today’s event, all thanks to you.”

Angel’s eyes fell on the real smile on Alastor’s face and his heart broke into a million pieces at his confession. Alastor had actually enjoyed his company the night before despite having to put up with him and teach him how to dance and even ending up getting stepped on by his stupid spider legs and now here he was, telling him that the party had tuned into something worth looking forward to, all because of him.

Angel swallowed thickly.

Alastor took in the sight of an obviously distressed Angel, trying to wrap his head around what the other was actually thinking.

He had meant every single word he had said, as much as it pained him to admit. He couldn’t help but be honest with Angel. Somehow, he felt safe around him. Safe enough not to feel threatened by the idea of sharing what he was _actually thinking_ _and feeling_ with him.

And then he remembered how his own emotions had almost completely ended up clouding his judgment the previous night, making his skin crawl at the mere memory of what he had come so close to doing.

Well, not _everything_ he was actually thinking and feeling.

He shook his head and looked back at Angel who was still staring at him with his mouth agape and a guilty expression on his face.

Alastor cleared his throat before speaking again.

“I do hope we have the chance to share another dance toni-“ The smaller demon’s voice was cut off as both Alastor and Angel jumped at the loud noise of the main entrance door being thrown open, revealing a fuming Charlie standing in the doorframe.

It didn’t take much for Angel to figure out why she was so livid, but before he could even think of something to say, Alastor spoke up.

“What happened, dear?” Alastor stood up and approached Charlie. “What has got you so hot under the collar?”

“The guests!” Charlie threw her hands around, doing her best not to lose her composure more than she already had.”They’re all dead!”

Alastor blinked in confusion.

“How do you kno-“

“It’s all over the news!” she sighed, making her way inside the reception of the Hotel.”Every single one! How is that even possible?!”

Angel inwardly cringed at her words and Alastor’s posture suddenly deflated as his shoulders subconsciously dropped in realization.

“So that means that-“

“There won’t be a party tonight anymore.” Charlie said, all the anger she had previously felt turning into disappointment and dismay. ”I’m sorry, Al.”

She placed a comforting hand on Alastor’s shoulder, more so to comfort herself However. Even though she was in dire need of some kind of comfort, she choose not to initiate a hug and end up touching the other more than necessary.

Alastor couldn’t quite put his finger on why he felt such… dejection, over the news. It was just a stupid party. It wasn’t even something actually worth looking forward to, if he were to really think about it. Just some Overlords discussing business and trying to fool Charlie into thinking that they had good intentions and Charlie trying to fool the Overlords into believing in her dreams and aspirations. So then why…

He barely managed to fight off the urge to look in Angel’s direction.

He instead chose to lower his gaze, trying to make sense of what he was feeling and doing his absolute best to not let any of it show.

There would be no dancing with Angel Dust tonight. Not anymore. Not ever, maybe.

No more swaying to tunes he had come to love just because of them being associated with the white spider holding him close during their ‘practice’ session.

No more hands holding his waist and guiding his movements to the rhythm of the music, attempting to playfully dip him and twirl him around and despite his half-hearted protests and scoldings, secretly making him melt on the inside.

No more black and white eyes almost lovingly gazing down at him.

Alastor bit his lip as he felt a heavy weight on his chest, but forced himself to show his widest grin to the concerned Charlie looking up at him.

“Why, that’s quite all right, my dear. There’s no use crying over spilt milk, now is there?” he let out a strained chuckle.”There surely must be other ways to reach the public and get your ideas out there!”

Charlie’s dejected expression turned into a hopeful one at the Radio Demon’s words. She nodded with new found resolve.

“You’re right, Al!” she smiled brightly, appreciating how Alastor always ended up making her feel better regardless of how he always proclaimed how he was only there to witness everyone’s misery and failures. “It’s not the end of the world. I’ll go and think of something else we can do to attract some clients! Thank you for always helping me out!”

Alastor’s eyes slightly widened in surprise at her words, not understanding how blurting out some words of encouragement could count as ‘helping out’. He wasn’t there to ‘help out’. He only wanted to entertain himself for a bit. He didn’t really care about Charlie’s silly little Hotel. No, sir. Even though there he was, encouraging her to not give up on this foolish dream of hers and to further persuade it. There was no way he actually meant what he was saying. Absolutely no way.

“But I didn’t-“ Alastor was just about to defend his choice of words and explain that he hadn’t actually meant to encourage her or ‘help her out’ in any way, but he was cut off by Charlie’s glee-filled voice.

“You always know what to say!” she smiled brightly before making her way to her office and closing the door behind her, leaving an unbelievably frustrated and dumbfounded Alastor in the main hall.

He blinked a couple of times, trying to process what had just happened and sighed in defeat.

_I can never understand what goes on in that head of hers…_

He turned around only to find a miserable looking Angel Dust standing right next to him, eyes glued to the floor, looking as if he was pondering on what words to use to apologize to Alastor for something absolutely unforgivable.

Alastor’s smile grew strained and the corners or his mouth were becoming almost unbearably difficult to hold upwards.

_Thank you for offering to help me out, Smiles. It really means a lot!_

_Angel’s voice echoed through his mind as_ memories of the other flooded his mind again.

_Gotta say. That’s much better. Music sure helps out, doesn’t it?_

There would be no more moments like that with Angel Dust. Not anymore. Now that his last chance to ask Angel for a dance just went out the window.

_Hey! Eyes up here!_

No more playful banter and teasing between them as they slowly swayed to the music.

_Don’t sweat it, Smiles. It’s gonna take more than that to get rid of me._

No more hands gently pressed against his waist and holding his hand, guiding him to the rhythm of the music.

_Challenge accepted, sugar!_

No more.

He looked at the other’s downcast eyes and wondered how in the Nine Circles he had come to crave Angel Dust’s company so much. No, even his _touch_. And why was the thought of never having the taller demon’s arms wrapped around him ever again making his chest hurt?

Alastor swallowed thickly before forcing his voice to come out, catching Angel’s attention.

“Well, that is unfortunate.” He stated simply, plastering on one of his regular smiles.”I sure hope your newly acquired dancing skills won’t be put to waste and that you’ll one day use it with another suitable partner. Teaching you had turned out to be quite… enjoyable.”

The Radio Demon lowered his eyes, not bearing to hold the other’s heart wrenching gaze any longer. Not when his own heart hurt so much at the thought of never feeling the other’s hands gently holding him ever again. At the thought of never having an excuse to just gaze into perfect miss matched eyes without any shame or guilt ever again.

It was in that very moment that he ended up regretting not giving in the night before.

He swiftly made his way around the other and went on his way, eyes downcast.

“I’ll be seeing you around, Angel Dust.”

Angel opened his mouth to call out after the other. To say something. Anything. But his voice got caught up in his throat. The guilt was physically chocking him. The look on Alastor’s face when he had finally realized what had happened had torn his heart apart. Alastor could do his best and try to hide what he was feeling inside around him, like he did with everyone else, but Angel could see it all. The disappointment. The regret. The _longing_.

And it was all because of him and what he did. He couldn’t have just been a man and showed up to the party ready to just embarrassed himself and get it over with. He had to go behind Charlie’s back to make sure something that he now wanted more than anything wouldn’t happen.

His eyes fell on his hands which were still stretched out after the other. He lowered them and stared at them for a long time, the feeling of not knowing what to do eating him alive.

He was just about to pick up his phone again and call Cherry back to try and explain what had just happened when an idea suddenly popped in his head.

_I can fix this._

He clenched his hands into fists and raised his head.

_I can **still** fix this._

A determined smile made its way on his face as new found resolve was beginning to fill him up. He could still make things right. He spared one last glance towards where Alastor had gone, before heading to the main office of the Hotel with long strides.

_First, I need to talk to Charlie._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would first like to ask 'Moonshiro' exactly when and how did you manage to break into my house and read this chapter before I posted it? Because there's no way you could have predicted everything so accurately otherwise. You'll be hearing from my lawyer. 
> 
> Also, I'm sorry you won't be getting an Overlord party at the Hotel anymore. I know a lot of you were looking forward to that, but I assure you, what's coming is way better 👀
> 
> Thank you for reading, I'm always going to be grateful for your support! And don't forget to leave a comment, I always enjoy hearing what you think ❤️
> 
> Stay tuned~


	13. 'Redemption'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alastor gets caught up in his thoughts yet again, but a certain someone arrives with good news and a request.

To say that Alastor had always loathed the necessity of slumber would be a complete understatement. Just Like death, it puts even the most powerful men on their backs, forces them to rethink and doubt every single choice they’ve made if only for that day and makes them relive every emotion, thrill and worry, turning the very concept of ‘rest’ into nothing more than a laughable and pointless strive.

So there lied Alastor in his bed at 7PM, trying his damn hardest to lull himself to sleep in a hopeless attempt to rid himself of the seemingly endless misery the day had brought so far only to be swallowed even more profoundly by the erratic waves of his mind.

He sighed with malcontent, gradually growing irritated at having to force his eyes shut in this tediously long attempt at succumbing to a hopefully ‘peaceful’ slumber. Well, as peaceful as Hell would allow, anyway.

He didn’t often sleep. Mainly because he didn’t really have any need for it. But sometimes, he did find himself resorting to it when he was ‘running away’ from something. Somehow seeking shelter from the reality he most likely ended up putting himself into most of the time.

Alastor wouldn’t expect pleasant dreams of succeeding aspirations, lavish indulgence or warm memories. Goodness, no. He was in Hell for crying out loud. Only Charlie could ever come up with such a preposterous and foolish idea as a ‘good dream’ here in Hell. No. All he ever wanted out of the few times he found himself craving an escape from himself and his unruly mind was rest.

To just succumb to a void of black and nothingness.

Away from this cursed Hotel.

Away from his unpleasant thoughts and emotions.

Away from Angel Dust and his infuriatingly endearing smile that he could never get enough of.

But Hell wouldn’t even allow that.

Alastor finally chuckled in defeat as he opened his eyes again, sitting up.

_I can’t even have this…_ he pondered pensively.

He remembered Angel Dust holding him close, confessing his lack of experience and knowledge regarding proper dancing etiquette while ironically doing a flawless job in the end. Gently swaying to the music playing on his radio and gazing into each other’s eyes.

Alastor huffed and shook his head.

_What a fool I’ve turned into._

And the absolute mindboggling concept of him actually looking forward to that blasted event. Just so that Angel Dust could wrap his many arms around him once more. Just to feel his supposed ‘heart’ melt under the other’s loving gaze. Just to hear his lovely laughter throughout their playful teasing and banter.

Alastor couldn’t help but wonder when exactly he had come to crave such disgustingly tender and indulgent company. And not from just any demon either. From the one demon who upon their very first meeting offered to do such a vulgar act, Alastor couldn’t even reproduce the mere words the other had used out loud. From the demon he had grown so fond of over his time here at this Hotel, despite their many differences.

From Angel Dust himself.

Alastor sighed yet again, letting go of the seemingly pointless strife of trying to comprehend his own thoughts and emotions.

He was nothing more than a fool. That much was clear. But after so many years of condemning even the slightest trace of ‘human’ emotion he let slip past his well constructed and meticulously outlined façade, he found himself questioning how he had come to feel such strong emotions for the white spider. And to be this unacceptably close to voicing them out loud. Hell, even acting out on them.

He sat up on his bed and gently rubbed his forehead out of sheer frustration before letting his eyes travel out the window, taking in the night sky of Pentagram City and its ironically bewitching and luminous moon.

He spend the next minutes quietly gazing up at the clear sky, not bothering to start counting the stars as he always did whenever seeking out the sweet release of slumber. In that moment, it seemed a bit too tedious and unnecessarily prolonged.

For a man who claimed to crave entertainment more than anything else even in his after-life, preferring the simple silence of the night instead of even just the clamor of his own thoughts was something truly tragic. He figured.

But even though he let himself succumb to the deafening silence around him, his erratic thoughts took over once again, making his heart ache yet again. He raised a hand to his chest and tightly gripped at the fabric of his shirt. And with pleading eyes gazing at the bloody moon above, his lips subconsciously parted allowing words to make their way out on their own.

“Just one more chance.” He pleaded.”Give me just one more chance to make that **_mistake_**.”

Who he was begging for another chance to give in to his foolish desires and have one more chance to let his lips fall on Angel’s was a mystery even to Alastor himself. Who was he talking to? Lucifer? God? Any deity that was willing to listen to a sinner’s request? That would have to do.

Alastor let his gaze fall back on his lap, almost shamefully. Hating how vulnerable and ‘human’ he had come to allow himself to be when it came to Angel Dust.

But he still found himself craving the other’s arms wrapped snuggly around him. Craving the rhythm of the mellow tune playing on his beloved Radio as Angel led him in their dance, spinning him around and almost altogether sweeping him off his feet from the sheer liveliness and energy of his movements. Craving the white spider’s perfect mismatched eyes and lips so close to his own. Finally allowing him to make that mistake he had dreaded making in the beginning, but ended up craving it more and more as every moment passed by.

_Would it still be a mistake then?_ He couldn’t help but wonder as he lightly traced his thumb over his bottom lip.

Suddenly, a loud sound akin to something crashing into his door pulled him out of his seemingly endless train of thought and much despised self-pity. His eyes fell on the door, expecting someone to come in or at least knock before entering, but instead, he found himself staring at a wrinkled pink envelope sloppily pushed beneath his door.

Alastor tilted his head in confusion at the odd little package being shoved in his room, but he quickly gave in to his curiosity and stood up, heading for the door.

He wrinkled his nose as his fingers came in contact with the little pink envelope, noticing how curiously damp it was, the wet spots being obvious even in the dim light of the moon. He opened the door and looked around to see who was the author of such a messy delivery, but found no one.

A sudden trail of squeals made the Radio Demon jump as his eyes fell to the floor, just a couple feet away from his very own door, only to find an unsuspecting Fat Nuggets waddling away.

His usual static seemed to have gone unnoticed by the pig which was leisurely making its way down the hall, but the record scratch accompanied by the ovation of his radio audience track instantly made the little pig jump and look back, locking eyes with a wide eyed Alastor. Fat Nuggets gave a loud squeal before starting to run for his life, stumbling down the stars in the process and earning an amused chuckle from the demon watching him struggle to get away.

Alastor’s gaze fell back on the damp envelope in his hands. He figured the little pig was the one who delivered the tiny package to his door, surprisingly managing to push it beneath the door even. And he could only assume he was the intended recipient of the pink envelope since he was the only one who resided on that floor at the moment.

_What a curious little creature!_ He chuckled. _That would explain the wet spots._

His heart pace started picking up at the anticipation, looking over the pink little number in his hands. Since the messenger was Fat Nuggets, then that must have meant that the originator of the letter must have been none other than Angel Dust himself. He took a deep breath before carefully opening the letter, unfolding it in his hands.

Alastor noticed that there were but a few words written down in what could be described most delicately as messy hand writing.

**Join me downstairs?** 😊

**XOXO – Angel** ❤

Such simple words, but they didn’t fail to make Alastor’s heart skip a beat.

He carefully placed the pink letter on his nightstand, before taking a look in the mirror to make sure he looked appropriate, given that he did not know what the occasion was. After deciding that everything was in place, he put on his coat and smoothed it out before taking one last look at the moon.

_Is this my chance?_ He couldn’t help but wonder if his request had actually been heard. But the answer was only for the future to hold.

He chuckled as he made his way out of his room and down the stairs with a skip in his stride, humming while mentally preparing himself for whatever Angel was about to throw at him or whatever endeavor he was about to embark on with the other. But nonetheless, looking forward to either.

He finally made his way downstairs and looked around, expecting to see the spider already dragging him along to Lucifer knows where or at least to hear his voice coming from the bar or the reception, but he was met with complete solitude and silence.

He looked around for a couple more minutes, searching for Angel as he peaked around every corner, but he found nothing. It was then that doubt started slowly planting its seen in his mind.

_Perhaps the letter was indeed meant for somebody else? After all, my name was not mentioned._

He continued looking around, uncertainty starting to pool in his gut as he pondered whether he ended up looking too much into that simple letter. Will his hopes end up being nothing more than wishful thinking instead of a possible reality?

And just as he was about to give up, his ears perked up as he heard a quiet rustling sound from the ball room. Alastor turned around and eyed the large door suspiciously. That room was very rarely used, as Charlie had mentioned before. Only for large gatherings and special occasions.

Occasions like the Overlord Event that got cancelled.

Alastor narrowed his eyes as the rustling sounds behind the door abruptly stopped. He walked towards the door with unsteady steps, pressing down the doorknob and bracing himself for the uncertain outcome.

He cautiously opened the door and peeked inside only to stop dead in his tracks. He let a gasp slip by his lips as he looked around the spacious hall, the scarlet moon illuminating the scene before him through large glass windows, all drapes having been pulled back.

Tall candles carefully placed all around the empty hall, all chairs and tables set aside, giving the ball room the illusion of being far more tremendous and spacious than usual. Scarlet flowers carefully placed in vases and petals scattered all across the floor, giving the whole scene an otherworldly appearance.

And in the middle of it all was none other than Angel Dust, wearing the pink suit Alastor loved seeing him in, who was struggling to keep a very agitated Fat Nuggets still and straighten its neat little black bowtie around its neck. 

Alastor’s breath got caught in his throat. He couldn’t move or speak. All he could do was marvel at the breath-taking scenery in front of him, wide eyed and mouth agape.

It was crystal clear that all of this had been Angel’s doing and the poor sinner didn’t even notice the smaller demon entering the room as he was still struggling to make his pet pig eventually cooperate.

Alastor swallowed hard and urged his feet to move as he slowly made his way to the middle of the ball room where Angel was still wrestling his pig into submission. The closer he was getting to the white spider, the more he could feel the warmth he had grown far too familiar with return to his cheeks, his smile turning bashful. 

He stopped right behind the white spider and looked him over, but didn’t interfere with his endeavors of dressing up his pig for this seemingly important occasion, instead choosing to wait for Angel who was still struggling with his pig.

“Now you listen here you little shit, this is important, you better cooperate or for the love of God, I’m gonna actually let Al eat y-“ Angel glanced back for a second before snapping his head back as he got a proper look at the other standing right behind him.

“AL!” he shrieked, caught completely off guard and dropping his pig in the meantime, but doing his best to stand his ground.”Uh, Surprise!”

Angel awkwardly threw his hands up, trying to seem as confident and not ‘caught off guard’ as he could manage. He chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head as he slowly lowered his arms.

Alastor just stood there and looked at Angel with a goofy smile on his face, but it was already more than enough to make Angel’s heart skip a beat. He looked at him with such content and appreciation that it instantly made Angel’s heart melt.

“I received your letter.”Alastor quietly spoke.

Angel shook his head to snap out of the fairy-tale like sight in front of him that consisted of nothing more than Alastor flashing him one of his actually genuine smiles he had grown to love so much over time, and cleared his throat.

“I-I figured since I didn’t get the chance to actually prove my newly acquired slow dancing skills cause you know, tonight’s event ended up not happening, we could just have our own ball.” Angel’s eyes trailed over to Alastor’s as he bashfully smiled. ”Just the two of us.”

Alastor’s eyes widened and his heart beat picked up as he gazed into Angel’s eyes.

_So… intimate._

Alastor could feel his face getting redder and redder by the second, but this time he wouldn’t cower and run away. He would do what he had to do. And make _as many_ ‘mistakes’ as possible.

Alastor let out an amused chuckle.

“How very thoughtful of you.” Alastor said appreciatively, flashing Angel one of his real smiles that could melt Ice.”Now, shall we?”

Alastor stretched out his hand, inviting the other to grab it just like they have done the night before. Angel smiled brightly at the other and chuckled fondly at the familiar gesture.

_Already getting down to business I see._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all literally have the right to murder me. I am so sorry for not updating in actual DEACADES, but like I always say 'A job done well is better than a job done quickly'. So I hope this chapter was at least enjoyable for you ಥ◡ಥ 
> 
> I'm going to be real for a moment here. When I first put this story together and settled on an actual plot, the cancelation of the Overlord party was something well thought ahead and I did write it in a way that Alastor, and hence the readers, would look forward to it and thus, be 'shocked' when it got canceled due to Angel's insecurities. And then, I planned to make up for that 'disappointment' through Angel's grand gesture which will continue in the next chapter as well. 
> 
> However, I ended up noticing that the negative comments from disappointed/let down readers far outweighed the positive comments and that took a tool on my mental health and confidence as a writer. For the longest time, I questioned if I should even bother continuing this story if I already disappointed so many of my readers. But I decided to pull through and slowly, but surely, I managed to finish this chapter and a bit of the next one as well!
> 
> For the readers that have stuck by and showed their support throughout this story, I have no words to describe how much it means to me! The fact that I still keep receiving comments, asking me to keep going and telling me how much this mess that I'm writing means to people, absolutely blows my mind! One of the reasons I still push through and come up with ideas for this fic!
> 
> Again, thank you so much for sticking by! And don't forget! Any kind of support means a lot to me and helps me write more! 
> 
> You can also find me on Twitter now at [@HandleAllOfThisAesthetic](https://twitter.com/AlThisAestheti). Feel free to DM me with an idea, a request or just to talk for a bit 🙌 
> 
> Stay Tuned~


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